Multilateralism in trade negotiations was a procedural reaction to the collapse of the world economy into trade blocs in the 1930s, with the erection of the Smoot-Hawley tariff in the United States in 1930, the adoption of imperial preference in Britain in 1932-3, the emergence of ‘Schachtianism’ in Germany, and the creation of the Japanese ‘co-prosperity sphere’. One response to these trade blocs was to negotiate bilateral deals on a case-by-case basis, so that Britain might strike a bargain with, say, Argentina to allow beef to enter on preferential terms in return for a reduction in duties on British manufactures. Prior to the war, Britain and the United States embarked on detailed (and largely ineffective) negotiations to reduce tariffs between the two countries on a bilateral, case-by-case basis. Of course, such negotiations were tortuous and time-consuming, with very limited impact on the general level of protection or on the dismantling of trade blocs before the Second World War. The emergence of these trade blocs was associated with a second feature of the 1930s: the collapse of fixed exchange rates and an attempt to foster exports and limit imports through competitive devaluation. The result, as in the case of trade, was ‘beggar-my-neighbour’ policies so that in pursuit of national self-interest, everyone suffered and the world economy declined. Cooperation was generally accepted as a prerequisite for post-war recovery.