The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 is an
act passed by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
and signed into law by
President
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*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.
History
During the 1970s, the U.S.
trade surplus
Balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of a nation's exports and imports of goods over a certain time period. Sometimes, trade in services is also included in the balance of trade but the official IMF definition only cons ...
slowly diminished and turned into an increasing deficit. As the
deficit increased through the 1980s, some of the blame fell on the tariffs placed on US products by foreign countries, and the lack of similar tariffs on imports into the United States. Workers, unions and industry management all called for government action against countries with an
unfair advantage.
The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act started as an amendment proposed by
Rep. Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...
(D-MO) to order the
Executive branch
The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law.
Function
The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
to thoroughly examine trade with countries that have large
trade surpluses with the United States. If the trade surpluses continued, the offending country would be faced with a bilateral surplus-reduction requirement of 10%. Because of its style of
zero-sum game
Zero-sum game is a Mathematical model, mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation that involves two competition, competing entities, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the o ...
thought, it is considered by economists to be a modern form of
mercantilism
Mercantilism is a economic nationalism, nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources ...
.
Expiration
The act was signed into law by President Reagan, slightly less strict than proposed, as the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. It expired in 1991 and was not renewed until 1994 by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. It again expired in 1997 and was renewed once more by Clinton in 1999, and was followed by the
Trade Act of 2002.
See also
*
Trade Act of 2002
*
Currency manipulator
Currency manipulator is a designation applied by United States government authorities, such as the United States Department of the Treasury, to countries that engage in what is called "unfair currency practices" that give them a trade advantage. S ...
*
Exon-Florio Amendment
References
*Appleyard, Dennis R, Alfred J Field and Steven L. Cobb. ''International Economics.'' McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2006
Cass, Ronald A. "Velvet Fist in an Iron Glove: The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988" Regulation, Winter 1991.
External links
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988as amended
PDFdetails
in the GPObr>Statute Compilations collection
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988
as enacted
details
in the US Statutes at Large
{{US_tax_acts
1988 in American law
1988 in the United States
Foreign trade of the United States
United States federal taxation legislation
United States federal trade legislation
1988 in international relations