This paper examines the world trade competition in high-technology products. The special contribution to a nation's long term economic performance in high-technology industries is related to the fact that these generate spillovers and externalities effects. By using an original data base and taxonomy for trade flows it is shown that from 1970 to 1992 there were significant changes in the competitive position of the United States, the EEC member countries and Japan in high-technology products. During the examined period, there was a move from the technological hegemony of the United States to an oligopolistic structure in which several countries have the capability of affecting the future direction of technological change. The empirical evidence obtained in this study seems to suggest that the observed changes in competitiveness in high-technology trade constitute long-term trends, with the US experiencing a progressive relative decline in world trade shares and the Asian countries increasing their competitive position, whereas the European countries suffering sharp losses in the domestic and international markets.