Feuding Friends: U.S.-European Trade Relations in the Clinton Era 1992-2000

Feuding Friends is an in-depth study of transatlantic trade relations and trade conflicts in the context of post-Cold-War politics during the presidency of Bill Clinton and beyond. It follows the path from the founding of the WTO to the conflicts over beef, bananas and export subsidies that damaged the trade relationship in the late 1990s. The book analyses the failure of the WTO conference in Seattle and the subsequent attempts to restart and complete a new trade round. It develops a new model to explain transatlantic trade relations that takes into account the international landscape, economic interests and political decision-making. The work concludes with a cautiously optimistic outlook for transatlantic trade relations in the new century and the future of the WTO.