Letters to the Editor

Trade liberalization

Opposing protectionism in both rich and poor countries ("Targeting Rich-Country Protectionism," September 2001), Professor Jagdish Bhagwati would have been even more effective if the multilateral liberal trade initiative he favored were more far-reaching than the one he explicitly endorsed, and his support for domestic measures to address the occasionally injurious impact of antiprotectionist policies were more forcefully stated.

What is needed is a more ambitious initiative than the projected multilateral round of negotiations being organized by the World Trade Organization, even if supplemented by the assorted bilateral free-trade agreements currently contemplated. Even adding the Western Hemisphere free trade agreement sought by U.S. President George W. Bush would not be enough. Free traders everywhere should be advocating the achievement of totally free trade-within a realistic timetable-by as many countries as care to participate. No rich country can afford to abstain for long. Although poor countries would not be able to make such commitments, their exports to countries committed to free trade should be accorded the same treatment as trade between those more advanced countries. However, the poor countries should be committed to comparable free-trade obligations commensurate with their evolving economic capabilities.

Domestic adjustment programs are essential to both the readiness of countries to work toward free trade and the viability of the free-trade commitments negotiated. Professor Bhagwati endorses, in passing, the adoption by countries of adjustment and retraining policies to address the impact on their workers of an increase in labor-intensive imports, but such proposals need more forceful attention.

The readiness of rich countries to commit themselves to totally free trade in accordance with a realistic timetable could conceivably energize the developing countries to begin removing their own protectionist policies-an outcome Professor Bhagwati clearly advocates.

Although properly crafted adjustment policies are vital to the viability of even modest free-trade initiatives, there is little, if any, evidence of such preparedness at the national level, at least in the United States. The need for such policies has been neglected not only by governments but also by most free traders. In short, both the foreign and the domestic...