International Trade in Telecommunications

Although the international flow of telecommunications has grown rapidly, the expansion of direct trade in telecommunications equipment has not kept pace. In this book, Ronald Cass and John Haring ask what international trade policy should be for the telecommunications equipment sector. The authors review trade policy debates and recent developments in telecommunications before exploring policies for telecommunications trade. They examine potential justifications for import and export restraints, as well as factors that influence the demand and supply of trade restraints. They discuss special problems caused by differences in national industry structures, paying particular attention to the effects of early U.S. liberalization of telecommunications regulation and the divestiture of the Bell System in a world where most telecommunications are provided by government monopolies. Finally, they offer their own policy recommendations for telecommunications trade.