从历史视角看美国贸易政策的本质

美国的贸易政策是指能直接影响美国进出口地理方向和进出口商品结构、跨国投资的政府措施。必须从经济和政治结合的角度去理解美国的贸易政策,美国贸易政策的本质是实现美国国内外经济利益和政治利益的工具或手段。贸易保护主义和贸易自由化都是美国利益的实现方式。认识美国贸易政策的本质为认识中美贸易方面存在的问题提供一种思路。

Understanding the Essence of U.S. Foreign Trade Policy from the Historical Perspective

The U.S. trade policy involves government measures that affect the direction and composition of imports, exports, and investments across borders. In order to understand the U.S. trade policy, we must combine economy with politics. The essence of U.S. trade policy is to serve the U.S. economic benefit and political benefit. A division of U.S. trade history into five broad eras- 1765-1815, 1815-1934, 1934-1962, 1962-2001, and post 9/11-illustrates this point. At different eras, the U.S. trade policy's stress is different. Along with the changing of situation at home and abroad, the U.S. trade policy's stress titled towards achieving domestic economic objectives such as protecting U.S. workers and firms from fair and unfair import competition and providing U.S. exporters with equal opportunities to sell in foreign markets. Otherwise, the U.S. trade policy emphasized creating a non-discriminatory and open world trading system as well as other foreign policy objectives. Propelled by the concerns of the fight against terrorism, a new post 9/11 trade policy era may be developing where U.S. priorities again tilt back towards foreign policy and national security concerns. It is helpful for us to understand the U.S. trade policy's essence because it provides us a useful tool to understand the trade conflict between the U.S. and China.