Clinton's Trade Policy In One Person's Eye

Throughout the recent American history, the economy of the 1990s was themost dynamic and prosperous. The US had been in a state of low productivity, slowsalary raise, and a growing gap between the rich and poor for almost two consecutivedecades before the 1990s, which also highlighted the economic achievements in thelatter period. Three factors were crucial to the environment of US trade policy in the 1990s:the sluggish economy, the globalizing US economy and its increasing dependence onforeign markets, capital, and technologies, and the domestic political situation.Proceeding from this, President Clinton made a fundamental strategic decision: Tosafeguard America's economic status against the backdrop of economic globalizationand regionalization;To explore broader international markets for American productsthat enjoyed competitive advantages while maintaining domestic economic securityand protecting certain industries. He opted for free trade, and paid extraordinaryattention to the US economic ties with other countries and economic blocs whileadhering to the multinational trading system. The author tries to look into the nature of Clinton's "fair trade", i.e. a conditionalfree trade through analyzing his trade actions at multilateral, regional, and bilaterallevels. An attempt is also made to re-evaluate Clinton's trade policy from theperspectives of economic, political, and negotiation results.