ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses bilateral economic diplomacy and especially the United States (US). It establishes a basic taxonomy of the four levels, set out in a simple matrix. The chapter isolates the bilateral level more precisely, with some words about unilateral economic diplomacy. It identifies the main features of bilateralism. The chapter demonstrates how far the features of bilateral economic diplomacy satisfy the needs of the US. It compares the US with Canada, as a country for which bilateralism is much less suited. The chapter examines the proposition that the bilateral level of economic diplomacy is particularly attractive to the US. It applies the features of bilateralism to Canada and shows that they do not fit Canada well at all. The chapter presents more widely at the use made by the United States of the other levels, especially under Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush the younger, relating these to the tensions of economic diplomacy.
