The Case For Continued Agricultural Trade Liberalization

The Case for Continued Agricultural Trade Liberalization Alan Blinder once wrote, â€Å"Economists have the least influence on policy where they know the most and are most agreed; they have the most influence on policy where they know the least and disagree most vehemently† (1987, p.1). This maxim is certainly true when the subject in question is free trade. Despite near unanimity among economists as to the benefits of free trade, the general public remains skeptical and politicians regularly play to voters’ fear about the dangers of trade to garner support (Mankiw, 2015). Nowhere have protectionist tendencies been more evident than in agriculture. Across developed nations, trade barriers for agricultural commodities remain higher than those for manufactured goods. For example, the World Trade Organization (WTO) estimates that on average the U.S. imposes tariffs of 4.72% on agricultural products as opposed to 3.56% on non-agricultural imports (Tariff Analysis Database, n.d.). While these tariffs are lower than those of many other developed nations, the U.S. also provide significant subsidies to agricultural producers that tend distort international markets. In the author’s opinion, the U.S. and its trading partners should pursue further agricultural trade liberalization. This position is developed in the following paragraphs. First, the economic principles favoring free trade are presented. Next, opposing arguments are considered. Finally, the paper concludes by recommending thatShow MoreRelatedThe United States Trade Policy1741 Words   |  7 PagesSince the early 1930s, tariff reduction has been the prevalent theme of United States trade policy. In the future, economic historians will put an emphasis on the way the liberalization of trade over the past forty to sixty years has molded this particular trade policy. Since 1930, tariffs have been gradually reduced to roughly twenty percent of the regular level they were back then. 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