LEVEL PLAYING FIELDS, TILTED PLAYING FIELDS AND UNITED-STATES COMPETITIVENESS

Primary copper is used to exemplify the problems involved in measuring or even properly identifying the specific issues determining fair or unfair trade advantage. Resources, labour and capital, as well as tran sport, infrastructure and processing, are discussed in terms of contri butions to normal competitive advantage, level trade. Non-market aspec ts including taxes, subsidies and environmental issues as well as stat ist versus capitalist organizations of business, exchange rates and in terventions in the cost of capital are shown to contribute to anticomp etitive advantage, tilting the playing field. Aggregation of net advan tage is non-trivial even for a comparatively simple commodity.