Politics and protection: The rise and fall of voluntary export restraint agreements

The GATT agreement reached through the Uruguay Round has eliminated US reliance on voluntary export restraint agreements as means to protect domestic industries. This development suggests changes in the conditions under which the US conducts international trade, changes that have altered the ability of industries to influence government trade policies and caused US policy makers to abandon a trade tool that once allowed the pursuit of expanded international markets while providing limited protection to weak yet politically influential domestic sectors. Trade data and interviews with government and industry officials reveal that the importance of third world markets, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of Japan as a voice for international market expansion have left export restraint agreements inconsistent with US trade goals. While the elimination of such agreements does not presage the creation of a completely liberal trade order, it does represent a step in that direction.