Abstract
Efforts to discuss with managers of U.S. multinational firms the possible emergence of a trading system based on regional blocs are generally met with a “big yawn.” This paper attempts to explain this rather surprising lack of concern on the part of managers. Indeed, with the recent emphasis on global strategies by multinational firms, one might expect managers to see such blocs as serious threats. In fact, rather than worrying about a threat, managers have tended to lend their support to efforts to negotiate regional free trade agreements, such as those among the United States, Canada and Mexico, along with their general support of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations.
Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management, Harvard Business School.
This article is adapted from “Conflict or Indifference: U.S Multinationals in a World of Regional Trading Blocs”, a study prepared as a part of the Research Programme on Globalization and Regionalization, headed by Charles Oman.
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© 1996 Centre for International Cooperation and Development
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Wells, L.T. (1996). Antagonism or Equanimity: U.S. Multinationals and Regional Trading Blocs. In: Svetličič, M., Singer, H.W. (eds) The World Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24695-3_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24695-3_10
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