Burdens of a creditor nation: business elites and the transformation of US trade policy, 1917-62

Thesis

My research seeks to explain the evolution of trade policy debates among American business leaders between World War I and the 1960s. The key finding is that a new framework for discussing trade policy was widely adopted after the United States became a creditor nation during World War I. This framework related tariffs and imports to exports, international lending and American foreign policy. High levels of imports ceased to be a threat and instead came to be seen as a pre-requisite for high levels of exports and a well-functioning global economy; raising the levels of imports, including through tariff cuts, became a strategy for providing American allies and debtors with dollar revenues. This new insight into the political economy of American foreign economic policy is based on new evidence from the archival records of business associations and a wide range of other primary and secondary sources. In addition to bringing to light new evidence, my research also addresses some of the gaps that still exist in the literature on the history of the foreign economic policy of the United States, the Cold War and transatlantic relations.

Authors: Huempfer, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-ga99pxbqy
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: American history; Marshall Plan; business interest groups; trade policy; foreign aid; Cold War; GATT; World War II; political economy; business history; balance of payments; Postwar Europe; Economic history; international trade; Planning
• Subjects: American history; international trade; Planning; trade policy; foreign aid; Cold War; GATT; World War II; political economy; business history; balance of payments; Postwar Europe; Economic history; Marshall Plan; business interest groups