This study examines the relationship between trade openness and labor productivity in
manufacturing industries in the United States. An empirical model is developed to estimate the
effect of trade openness on the aggregate productivity of labor using time-series data. The
regression results suggest that trade openness has positive and significant effect on the labor
productivity in manufacturing. The results also show that multifactor productivity and capitallabor
ratio have positive and highly significant impacts on labor productivity. The empirical
evidence thus indicates that the main determinants of the aggregate labor productivity in
manufacturing industries are trade openness, multifactor productivity, and capital-labor ratio. In
general, the evidence on the effect of trade openness on labor productivity found in this study is
consistent with the findings of some previous studies that used cross- country data.