World Trade Barriers in Relation to American Agriculture

Excerpts from the Summary: International trade, including that in agricultural products, is under the influence of more widespread governmental intervention than ever before in modern times. The measures by which this influence is exerted upon agriculture apply either directly as agricultural measures or indirectly through other branches of economic life. In its present extreme form, such intervention is a recent development. Indeed, in several countries restrictions on international trade and other forms of intervention affecting farm products were either nonexistent or relatively unimportant until the last few years. Once actively under way, the process of restriction and counter-restriction, aid and counter-aid, has tended to become cumulative. Import restrictions have tended to result in other import restrictions; export aids, in other export aids; and import restrictions and export aids, to compete each with the other. As each importing country has raised its barriers in the hope of protecting its domestic agriculture against the world price decline, the increased pressure of world supplies upon countries still granting relatively free access to their home markets has impelled them also to take defensive action in behalf of domestic producers. As each exporting country has sought, through bounties and other aids, to relieve its producers from the effects of declining prices forced still lower by rising trade barriers, rival exporting countries, bent on preserving at least the same competitive advantages for their producers as before, have resorted to similar expedients. When these aids are followed by countervailing restrictions in the importing countries, the circle is completed.