"Freer trade has its costs. The record suggests that for diplomatic and national security reasons the U.S. government sacrificed thousands of domestic jobs to create employment and prosperity elsewhere in the noncommunist world."

Alfred E. Eckes, Jr.

I first met Alfred E. Eckes in Washington, D.C. back during the NAFTA debate in 1993. That year I presented on and/or debated the NAFTA agreement twenty-five times all across the state of California. Eckes' article, "Trading American Interests", was a marvelous encapsulation of the history of and problems with our trade policy which I made reference to in my presentations. His quote, "For 45 years, a succession of presidents ... have consciously subordinated domestic economic interests to foreign policy objectives," started many discussions.

Alfred Eckes' new book, Opening America's Market: U.S. Foreign Trade Policy Since 1776, brings into crystal clear focus why we have a $160 Billion dollar trade deficit and how we got here. It is irresponsible to continue to perpetuate policies whose losses add up to a Mexican Bailout a month (approximately $20 billion) and with the information in Eckes book the solutions become obvious.

Here is what others have said about the book:

"[Eckes] unites scholarly rigor with a policy maker's sensitivity to the political factors influencing trade. . . .One hopes that future historians will provide their readers with a perspective on the past as helpful as the one Mr. Eckes has given us."
- New York Times Book Review

"Opening America's Market is the most lucid, insightful, and complete analysis of U.S. foreign trade policy on the market. Alfred E. Eckes has written an instant classic, one that is indispensable for anyone interested in U.S. trade policy."
- Pat Choate, Manufacturing Policy Project