Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines agricultural and trade policy in the European Community (EC), the US, and Canada from a political economy perspective and explores the structural changes that have taken place in the EC, the US, and Canada, and the resulting agricultural crisis. It provides a description and assessment of structural changes to agriculture in Canada, the US, and the EC and focuses on the roots of the crises in the agricultural economies of Europe and North America. The book reviews the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and also examines the prospects for success or failure of the GATT negotiations over agriculture, specifically for a “core” agreement that might emerge. It looks at agricultural policy reform by first examining the historical development of agricultural policy and trade from 1800 to the present.