Pro Trade, Against Competition

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of firm lobbying and selective trade protection. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, Emile van Ommeren challenges the view that large multinational corporations are unequivocally in favor of trade liberalization.

Pro Trade, Against Competition delves into the factors that contribute to the implementation of selective trade measures by governments, exploring relationships between firm-level interests, trade barriers, and the world trading system. The book showcases examples from economies across the world, demonstrating that the growth of intra-industry trade and global value chains has fundamentally altered firms’ involvement in international trade. Ultimately, van Ommeren contends that politically powerful companies have an incentive to lobby for selective trade protection under these conditions.

Providing a thought-provoking examination of trade policymaking across diverse contexts, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars in trade, international relations, comparative politics, public policy, and economics. Policymakers will also benefit from its insights into the consequences of selective trade policies for the global trading system.