At a time when managing in a global economy demands an understanding of - and often involvement in - the public policy debate about trade, a clear-headed, in-depth analysis of how the United States really makes trade policy is long overdue.

In Trade-Offs, Susan C. Schwab fills the gap with an insider's account of the people, events, and institutions that shaped the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, one of the most significant trade laws of our time. Trade-Offs is a remarkable case study of "how Washington works," written by a trade-policy veteran uniquely qualified to be our guide. It also makes an important contribution to policy theory with its innovative conceptual framework for understanding U.S. trade legislation.

The Omnibus Trade Act set the stage for NAFTA and the GATT talks and dictated the terms of their approval by Congress. It is also the law that ultimately triggered fundamental debates both on fast-track legislation and on Super 301 and its use of the U.S. market as leverage against major foreign barriers. The most authoritative and sweeping trade law in a generation, The Omnibus Trade Act will drive U.S. policy and affect international business interests into the twenty-first century.

As the first major trade law since Smoot-Hawley to be drafted primarily in the Congress instead of the executive, it may also mark the end of an era in U.S. trade policy.

Following the legislation from the House Ways and Means Committee to the Senate Finance Committee and then on to joint conference, a near-derailment, and back, Schwab's case study meticulously illustrates the web of political, economic, and structural forces that shaped the bill and ultimately made it law.

Trade-Offs chronicles the struggle for control over trade policy between Congress and the Reagan administration; tracks the positions and influence of business, labor, and the media; and illuminates the roles of key players such as Lloyd Bentsen, Dan Rostenkowski, and James Baker.

Trade-Offs closes with an insightful look at the future of U.S. trade policy and offers benchmarks for business leaders and policy analysts alike to interpret it. By placing the Omnibus Trade Act in its historical context, Schwab finds that while the law did not reverse the traditional dominance by a market-oriented elite over U.S. trade policy, it did help create a policymaking environment far more vulnerable to special interest manipulation than at any time since 1930.

Whether that policy is ultimately "free trade" or "protectionist," Schwab concludes, is not preordained and will depend largely on the economic philosophies of those engaged in the very human process of creating it.