U.S. Trade Policy and Global Development

Polls show that many Americans increasingly see the country’s trade openness asmore of a threat than an opportunity, and the bipartisan political consensus in favor of openmarkets is badly frayed. The rules-based trade systemthat U.S. statesmen helped to create afterWorldWar II to encourage American and global prosperity is also grappling with new challenges, particularly the rise of large emergingmarkets that want a say in how the World Trade Organization (WTO) is run. The risks of this situation are greatest for the smallest and poorest countries, which would be even more marginalized if support for openness and a nondiscriminatory trade systeme rode further. URL: [http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/967263]