EDAC URGES U.S. TO EASE EXPORT RULES: AN ARTICLE ANALYSIS
While the United States government, regardless of the political party in power at any given time, is an ardent vocal supporter of unrestricted free trade, the actions of the federal government frequently do not mesh well with its rhetoric. "Free trade" agreements typically are negotiated to maximize the access of American exporting firms to foreign markets, while providing protection for many domestic producers through subsidies and import restrictions.
An aspect of the approach of the United States government that is less well publicized, however, involves export trade policies. The controversy over export subsidies provided by the United States government to American exporting firms through taxation relief on specific export earnings has been well publicized because of World Trade Organization (WTO) rulings that such actions contravene trade agreements. The controversy continues because the United States government, instead of complying with WTO rulings, attempts (in several instances) to re-write the law so that the benefits to American exporters remain, although the language of the law is somewhat modified. These efforts fool no one, and so the controversy continues and the United States is exposed to WTO authorized monetary sanctions by some of it important trading partners.
Oddly, the article by Michael Santarini (2004) published deals with the mirror image of the issue of subsidizing exports รน restricting exports. Another negotiating objective of the United States government in pursuing "free trade" agreements is a right, in effect, not to be required to export to any country that the federal government does not like. Of course, the wording of the trade agreements is not clouded in such direct and plain language. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as an example, allows the United States to block the export of goods produced in the United S...