Where Was Trade at Bretton Woods?

Abstract

Historians have glossed over the absence of trade at Bretton Woods even though access to markets, stable exchange rates and convertible currencies were mutually dependent. Despite extensive Anglo-American support for a liberal trade order, the British government refused to discuss trade at Bretton Woods. This chapter explains Britain’s refusal because of concerns about imperial preference, the tariff system of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Although imperial preference could be considered a technical issue, it was associated with larger questions of power, status, leadership, and the unity of the British Commonwealth. Anglo-American disagreement over imperial preference delayed negotiations to establish the International Trade Organization until after the war, and the rapid transformation of alliance politics as well as the onset of the Cold War, ultimately decided the end result.