ASSESSMENTS

Trade Profile: The U.S. Struggles to Break Its Fetters

Jan 22, 2018 | 08:00 GMT

Since World War II, the United States has underpinned a trade system that has spread to encompass the whole world as it reduces barriers and reciprocity. The country is now staging an uprising that puts the structure of international trade at risk.

(oneinchpunch/Shutterstock)

Editor's Note

Global trade is changing. The kinds of multilateral agreements that characterized the postwar years have stalled over the past two decades, prompting countries and economic blocs to try to negotiate smaller deals with fewer partners. Nations and blocs have more leeway under this new model to negotiate the trade agreements that best suit their interests and to avoid those that don't. Now, more than ever, the future of international trade depends on a country or bloc's defensive interests, offensive interests and underlying factors of production. Our fortnightly Trade Profiles aim to break down these factors to facilitate an understanding of where global trade stands today and where it's headed.

In the 17th installment, we focus on the United States.

More a continent than a country, one nation has held pride of place in the global trading system for most of the last century: the United States. Since World War II, the United States has been central to underpinning a system that has spread to encompass the whole world as it reduces trade barriers and reciprocity. This centrality has not only extended to leadership on trade but also to the use of the U.S. dollar in global payments and central bank reserves. Despite its preeminence in the global trading system, the United States periodically has chafed against the bonds that hold it in place. Under the leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump, the country is now staging the latest iteration of these periodic rebellions -- an uprising that puts the whole structure of international trade at risk....

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