ABSTRACT
For a variety of reasons, the international division of labor has been tampered with through trade policy measures. Historic periods of protectionism were followed by epochs of free trade and vice versa (section 11.1). A whole arsenal of arguments for taking trade policy measures have been put forward. A number of arguments have a defensive orientation (section 11.2), others are rather aggressive (section 11.3), and yet other arguments concern retaliation (section 11.4) and the creation of equal conditions for competition (section 11.5). These arguments are critically reviewed. Finally, the reasons for a free international division of labor are summarized (section 11.6).
