ABSTRACT
Analysts of the determinants of U.S. trade policy have emphasized ideology, interest group competition, executive-congressional interaction, and cold war rivalry as explanations for U.S. policy. Although each of these approaches offers useful empirical information for scholars of trade policy, they are inadequate for a complete understanding of recent shifts in U.S. policy. This chapter argues for the development of a business conflict model of U.S. trade policy sensitive to the interaction between global macroeconomic conditions and corporate power in establishing the parameters of U.S. trade policy. Specifically, the following is an attempt to lay the foundations for such an approach by linking the macroeconomic trends of industrial restructuring to the development of corporate political coalitions advocating regional trading blocs.
