Partners or Competitors?

The ongoing Asian financial crisis has graphically demonstrated the shared Western stake in the Asian economy as the United States and Europe face falling exports to Asia and rising imports from the region. In 1998, both the European and U.S. trade imbalances with Asia grew by more than $50 billion each, and those imbalances are still growing. To avoid a protectionist backlash at home and to ensure greater openness in Asian markets, Washington and Brussels have little choice but to work more closely together to meet the Asian challenge. Partners or Competitors? provides the first blueprint for transatlantic teamwork in the Pacific at this critical juncture. The authors provide cogent analyses of a range of important cases, from electronic commerce to autos, from anti-trust policy to the protection of intellectual property. Tracing the history of self-defeating competition in the region, they explore both the opportunities and limitations of collaboration in today's rapidly evolving international trade environment.