Trade as a Foreign Policy Issue: A Bilateral Micro Perspective

• In Event: New Perspectives on Trade Preferences

Abstract

In an international system where cooperation appears increasingly at risk, a central question is to what extent citizens constrain governments by supporting the norms of the liberal international order. We, therefore, examine how much the mass publics in the United States, Australia and Germany value reciprocity as a key cooperative principle in international trading relations. This analysis requires that we use a bilateral perspective that departs from the common approach to examine trade preferences unilaterally without consideration of the behaviour and characteristics of the trading partner. Our survey experiments show that reciprocity continues to play an important role, especially towards traditional allies. However, a significant share of unconditional, non-cooperative attitudes exists, especially towards China. Variation in these responses are best explained by citizens' perceptions of the other country as political adversary as concerns for relative gains become eminent. Trade and foreign policy issues, thus, are more strongly intertwined than often assumed. To the extent that the growing anti-globalization sentiment in many countries is rooted in these international political considerations, the threat to trade cooperation is more fundamental than existing studies suggest.

Authors

• Thomas Sattler, University of Geneva

• Tanja Schweinberger, University of Geneva