ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses studies of trade politics in the United States and elsewhere in order to identify some general features of the making of trade policy that could be relevant to the consideration of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It explains the most common explanation for trade politics and theories based on the actions of private interest groups, and discusses some special features of interest group politics surrounding NAFTA. The chapter examines how macroeconomic conditions and governments' macroeconomic policies affect the making of trade policy, concluding that the macroeconomic environment of the 1980s partly explains American trade policy. Studies of Congressional voting on trade policy measures commonly find that party identification affects votes, independent of the effect of constituency interests. The chapter shows that conclusions depend on assumptions about both the relative political strength of old and new industries, and the degree of "stickiness" in the redeployment of economic resources.
