ABSTRACT
Our focus on the international politics of trade has bracketed an impor-tant question-what determines the specific trade objectives that gov-ernments pursue when bargaining within the WTO, when negotiating regional trade arrangements, or when making unilateral trade-policy decisions? We take up this question in this chapter and the next by examining two approaches to trade politics rooted in domestic politics. This chapter examines a society-centered approach to trade politics. A society-centered approach argues that a government’s trade policy objectives are shaped by politicians’ responses to interest groups’ demands. The European Union’s (EU) reluctance to liberalize European agriculture reflects EU policymakers’ responses to the demands of European farmers. The Japanese government’s commitment to high tariffs on imported rice reflects the Japanese government’s need to respond to the demands of Japanese rice growers. The American effort to open foreign markets to American high technology and service exports while continuing to protect the American textile, apparel, and steel industries reflects the influence that industry-based interest groups exert on American trade policy.
