General Information

Files in this series were created from 1980 through 1994. Materials include memos, notes, correspondence, vote counts, reports, press clippings, and journal articles. As the global economy grew, the Senate considered a wide range of legislation to open foreign markets and to protect domestic industries from the effects of importation of foreign goods. Subjects include a variety of international trade agreements, most notably the Uruguay Implementation Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the U.S.-Canadian Free Trade Agreement. Issues concerning these trade agreements and other aspects of trade include "dumping" export goods at unfairly low prices, "fast track" legislation which set parameters for the U.S. President to negotiate international trade agreements and for Congress to ratify the agreements, a variety of duties and tariffs set by the United States and other nations, customs enforcement, intellectual property rights, and trade deficits. Many files focus on particular industries, including footware, agriculture, lumber, textiles, and shipbuilding. Most of these files refer to the protection of these industries from foreign imports. Many of the shipbuilding files concern Bath Iron Works and the shipping industry. Additional files concerning Bath Iron Works are found in the General Maine Defense series, and additional files concerning the merchant marine are found in the Fisheries and Merchant Marine files. Other files in the series are arranged by nation or region and concern America's trading relations with nations and regions such as Canada, particularly the Canadian Free Trade agreement and agricultural exports to the U.S.; Mexico and NAFTA; Japan and the trade deficit; Asia; and China and the U.S. granting it Most Favored Nation trading status. There is some briefing material about Mitchell's meeting with various ambassadors.

Many files were generated by or are about the U.S. Trade Representative Office, particularly Micky Kantor and Carla Hills. Some files cover nominations to that office. Other files concern a variety of labor unions, corporations, and trade associations, the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Department of Commerce. Most of the files in this series were created and maintained by Seth Brewster and Robert Rozen. Some files were created and maintained by Andrew Haggard. Additional files were created by Thomas Gallager, David Ray, Anita Jensen, Sandy Brown, Joseph Damond, and Michael Casella. Steve Hart created some trade files concerning agriculture and fisheries. The majority of agriculture and fisheries material created by Steve Hart is in the Agriculture series and the Fisheries series, respectively. Many files concerning trade in particular industries are in series containing material on that subject. For example, files about agricultural trade are in the Agriculture series.