Perhaps the most significant role of interest groups in determining foreign trade policy was played out in Switzerland. The Swiss Consumers’ Union formed a league against increases in tariffs, supported by the Socialist movement. However, the manufacturers, the Swiss Union of Craftsmen, and the Swiss Union of Farmers were able to rally enough support to pass a tariff in 1902 increasing the protectionist policy.
Britain contrastingly stands out through this entire period (1860-1914) as staunchly anti-protectionist. There were movements in Great Britain to return to a protectionist policy, beginning with the Fair Trade League which eventually became the United Empire Trade League. Joseph Chamberlain led the next interest group crusade with the formation of the Tariff Reform League. However, the liberals in power counterattacked vehemently and succeeded in blocking all attempts at levying retaliatory tariffs. It is logical that in Britain the resistance to protectionism would have remained strong even when faced with economic stagnation, given that almost all the manufacturers and economists believed that free trade was the dogma which had propelled Britain to economic prosperity.
The phenomenal growth in trade over the period 1850-1914, estimated at 25-fold, cannot be explained by any one theory, but rather must be considered at each moment in its international, national, and even regional aspect. The often bellicose attempts of the ever more powerful interest groups demanding representation led to a slow reduction of liberal trade policies in many continental nations and a return to protectionism. It is important that interest groups were often unable to achieve their goals without the aid of international events to support their arguments and force the institutionalized governments to listen.
Historically the variation in trade policies within this time period sketches many of the arguments which are still made today. There is no way to study the modern trends in economic trade policy without hearkening back to Adam Smith, David Ricardo and the Anti-Corn Law League. It is a fascinating era to study and learn from, and to hope that mistakes made in the past will not be repeated by modern political rhetoric.
Bibliography / Works Cited
1) Cameron, Rondo. A Concise Economic History of the World. Oxford University Press, 1989.
2) Schonhardt-Bailey, Cheryl, et al. Free Trade: The Repeal of the Corn Laws, pp.xi-xxviii, 132- 138, 331-344. 1996.
3)Bairoch, Paul. “European Trade Policy, 1815-1914,” The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, Volume 8. Peter Mathias and Sydney Pollard, eds., pp 1-160.