'Analyzing Complex U.S. Trade Negotiations,' Review of Case Studies in U.S. Trade Negotiation, 2 Vols., by C. Devereaux, R. Lawrence and M. Watkins

Abstract

There was a time when international trade negotiations primarily concerned lowering national tariffs on goods, but that is in the distant past. In addition to goods and so many kinds of services, trade negotiations today establish or involve international policies on investment, labor rights, the environment, competition policy, government procurement, electronic commerce, intellectual property rights, and even food safety and access to medicines.

For the sick person, access to the right medicine can make the difference between life and death, making this an important public health issue. At the same time, most medicines are developed, tested, produced, and distributed by commercial enterprises. The protection of property rights - including the intellectual property that such inventions as medicine embody - is fundamental to commerce, and thus, the economic value of medicine is derived from the ability to control access to the knowledge that can produce medicine. But what if these two important policy goals conflict? In the 1990s, trade negotiations created new international trade rules for protecting intellectual property, generating heated conflict because of their possible impact on public health, as the book under review, Case Studies in US Trade Negotiation, explains.

International trade negotiations now touch on so many aspects of contemporary life, making the publication of Case Studies in US Trade Negotiation especially timely. This two-volume book, published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, vividly illustrates the nature and dynamics of recent U.S. international trade negotiations and related policy making.

The first volume applies an emerging negotiation framework to specific cases. The case studies were written originally for the case program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and the collection seems to be primarily designed as a teaching tool. Teachers and students of American public policy will find these excellent cases especially useful. They are remarkably thorough, of high quality, and full of policy insights.

The authors also apply negotiation theory quite well as far as they go, but this aspect is incomplete and it is not applied at all in volume 2. The book is not designed to offer any new negotiation concepts or methods of negotiation analysis, but rather, it seeks to demonstrate the application of a theoretical framework that has evolved over the last ten years. Also, the length of these case studies (forty to sixty pages) may discourage some teachers and busy practitioners from their use.

Apart from its contributions to teaching, the book will also be valuable to trade scholars. Those seeking an introduction to the practice of trade negotiation can learn much from it. Veteran trade policy researchers will also find rich original contributions to the available stock of evidence.

Keywords: trade negotiations