Rivoli Questions Ch. 7

1. By which route do Chinese t-shirts make their way to Miami and Sherry Manufacturing?

2. What does Rivoli mean when she says that the US has lost in the "race to the bottom" and is "not going gracefully"?  

3. What is the AMTAC and what is the losing battle that they are fighting?  Use China, politicians and free trade in your answer.

4. What did the "alphabet army" demand of the Bush administration?  When? Why?  What was the result?  How did the Nov. 1, 2004 deadline influence the Bush administration?

5. Whose side would you be on, Julia's or Augie's?  Why?

6. How does Figure 7.1 demonstrate that Augie has been successful?

7. You are a Chinese free trade lobbyist.  How do you use Figure 7.2 and Figure 7.3 to support your argument that the US has created unfair trade in cotton knit shirts?

8. What is the CBTPA?  In your informed opinion, should it be renewed in 2008?  Why?  Why not?

9. Why does politics instead of comparative advantage control textile and apparel manufacturing in the US?  

10. In which US states is the textile industry concentrated?  How has that made the industry's political voice relatively strong?  How is that different from the geographic distribution of the US retail industry and their political voice?

11. How has the US apparel manufacturing industry forced US presidents to perform a difficult balancing act during the past 50 years?  Use the terms free trade, Thurmond and Reagan in your answer.

12. What is the MFA?  What is the GATT?  What is the relationship between the two?

13.  What will be the consequences of phasing out the MFA?  Which countries would benefit?  Which would suffer?  Why?