Foreign Economic Policy

This volume is part of a Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) subseries that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of the administration of President Jimmy Carter. During Carter’s term as president, accelerating inflation, oil shortages, persistent trade deficits, and the declining value of the U.S. dollar challenged U.S. strength at home and abroad.

This primary source reference work documents the Carter administration’s response to these challenges in its international monetary and trade policies, as well as its involvement in the annual Group of Seven (G–7) economic summit meetings, covering topics such as the completion of the Tokyo Round of trade negotiations held under the aegis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; the provision of assistance to domestic producers facing import competition in sectors such as steel, shoes, and textiles; efforts to convince Japan to open its markets wider to U.S. exports; attempts to arrest the sharp decline of the U.S. dollar; and industrialized country economic policy coordination in the G–7.

The volume also examines the administration’s approach to North-South economic relations and commodity policy, covering issues such as foreign aid; U.S. involvement in development-focused international financial institutions; the creation of the Common Fund; world hunger; debt relief for less developed counties; and technology transfer.

Students researching the Carter administration for political science classes coursework assignments or the history of America’s Foreign Economic Policy may be interested in the insights and topics covered in this volume.   Political scientists and historians with interests in Foreign Economic Policies for the United State may also be interested in this work.