Since 1975 the Lomé Conventions have granted trade preferences to African exports to the European Union, Africa's main trading partner. The liberalisation of trade foreseen by the Uruguay Round means that these preferences will disappear, leading to net reductions in African exports. What...

In spite of all protestations and exhortations it is a fact that trade liberalization, the modern version of free trade, is caught in a crisis. Professor Detlef Lorenz is here analysing the causes of this crisis and suggesting alternatives for a future liberalization policy.

This paper reviews the history of bilateral trade negotiations between Taiwan and the U.S. The question posed at the outset is: does bilateralism enhance or jeopardize multilateralism? The U.S.-Taiwan experience seems to suggest a grossly negative answer. Bilateral negotiations for market...

This paper evaluates how much of the economics profession has evaluated the evidence on the relationship between international trade and economic growth. The paper highlights the basic approaches to the trade and growth question that the literature has adopted. The case is made that more...

This paper investigates the theory and evidence that history plays a role in shaping the direction of international trade. Because there are reasons to anticipate a positive correlation between the predominant direction of trade flows in the past and membership in preferential arrangements in...

Despite the major advances in information technology that have shaped the recent wave of globalization, openness to trade is still a political choice, and trade policy can change with shifts in domestic political equilibria. This paper suggests that a particular threat and a limiting factor to...