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In leading the way, how U.S. Trade Policy can overcome Doha's

failings, Associate Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies, Daniel

Ickinson argues that increased trade does not require new trade agreements. Instead of bargaining and and of unilateral trade liberalization.

Why is the United States Trade Representative focusing on achieving multilateral trade liberalization if, as you write, reducing one zone barriers is beneficial regardless of whether others open as well?

Well, to give a flippant answer, without negotiations, U.S. trade negotiators would be looking

for a new line of work.

But to probe more deeply, though, the multilateral path the trade liberalization has strong precedence.

Most of the tariff reduction and other trade liberalization that has occurred in the United States during the post-World War II period

has been pursuant to reciprocal agreements achieved through multilateral

negotiations. But there are also powerful political constraints. Congress is generally of the mind that our

trade barriers are assets, and if we're going to dispense with our assets, we should get something

in return, like improved market access abroad. Economists of all stripes agree that there is a positive

correlation between trade, liberalization, and economic growth. Countries that are more open to trade growth faster than those that are not.

But since trade liberalization is a positive good, the more countries that adopt liberal

trade policies the better.

Economic benefits can be much greater if liberalization is mutual, but that does not

mean it should be all or nothing that we should either achieve consensus to liberalize or not

liberalize at all. There is a very strong case to be made that unilateral liberalization is a viable alternative,

and in fact a preferable alternative if multilateral negotiators cannot produce an ambitious agreement.

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