Impacts on Banana and Coffee Farmers Due to Trade Agreements

Unlike previous years of solely trading goods, the WTO allowed for trade to consist of property and services among different countries. Countries could now be globalized in all goods their country didn’t have through the use of free trade. The process of trading was revolutionized by new developments in technology as more and more countries began to trade.

From the New York Times the article: “Coffee’s Economics, Rewritten by Farmers”, illustrates how Kenneth Lander, a lawyer in Monroe, moved with his family to a coffee farm in San Rafael de Abangares, Costa Rica. Mr. Lander was looking for a more balanced life between work and his lifestyle. Mr. Lander started growing his own coffee from 12 acres of land that yielded 6,000 pounds of specialty-grade coffee beans a year. But in 2008, his financials started to dwindle, and he quickly struggled to support his family. Farmers in his similar financial situation usually turned to organizations like Fairtrade International who typically bailed them out, but for Mr. Lander, he sought out innovative ideas. He began to roast his own beans and sell them

The World Trade Organization, or WTO, was established to grow the global economy and assure its success and safety. The WTO derived from the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trades, or the GATT. The GATT was established in 1948 in order to restore the destroyed global economy after the war. The world needed a united organization

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a global agency that is dedicated to promoting free trade between member nations. It was founded on the idea that the world can be a better place if everyone works together. Before World War II, countries believed in protecting their domestic productions by implementing tariffs, or taxes against goods that are imported. Tariffs make imported goods cost more than domestic goods, thereby protecting the success of domestic producers. Today, most nations support free trade, which is the exchange of goods across borders without restrictions like quotas or tariffs. The elimination of tariffs is meant to allow trade between nations to occur more freely.

Through-out this essay I will discuss the coffee commodity chain and its effects on the Global South. This essay will also, illustrate the impact coffee has on boosting developing countries’ economies while, looking into Fairtrade and its links to the commodity chain.

In the 1940’s several organizations were created to help manage and regulate the global market place: The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); later the World Trade Organization (WTO); International Monetary Fund (IMF); and the World Bank.

Figure 2.1 lists the major international trade pacts. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a supranational organization that oversees the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Important regional trade pacts include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA includes the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), the European Union (EU), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation pact (APEC

The GATT’s main function was not to resolve trade disputes, which is different from WTO, but rather to provide a set of rules that countries could at least publicly declared that they follow, therefore giving all signatories to the agreement

In 2002, a dispute over agricultural trade liberalization between the United States and Brazil arose. Brazil filed a lawsuit against the United Stated in the World Trade Organization Dispute (WTO) Settlement System arguing that the subsidies the United States provided to US farmers violated WTO trade agreements and gave US farmers unfair advantages (Unit 7, lesson 5). Fortunately for Brazil, the World Trade Organization agreed with their claim and authorized them to take “punitive measures against the United States” (Cengage unit 7, 3).  As a result of that authorization, Brazil decided “to impose tariffs and lift patent protections on US goods” (Cengage unit 7, 3). In order to limit the damage that could have been created by Brazil’s actions, the United States had to make a smart move. As a matter of fact, they decided to provide cottons to Brazilians rather than removing the subsidies. Over 150 Million in subsidies have been provided to the Brazilians, in 2010 so that Brazil do not impose punitive measures (Cengage unit 7, 3). There exists both, pros and cons for subsidizing U.S. farmers. In fact, US farmer strongly support subsidies claiming that it gives the US an important industry and helps the regulations. However, subsidizing US farmers has some consequences. The cons argue that “subsidies provided to US agricultural producers create inefficiency in the global economy” (unit 7). Also, according to economists, subsidizing stands in the way of the economy growth

In this paper, I will summarize the banana trade war between the European Union and the United States. I will examine the information, explain the argument, and explain the affects this banana war has had on economies and laborers. I will also investigate Chiquita’s role, the US’s retaliation, examine the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and explain their role in the dispute. Lastly, I will provide my assessment of the dispute and how I would resolve it acting as a representative of the WTO. This paper is outlined to answer each task to ensure evidence is provided to support my findings regarding the banana trade war.

The social and Environmental Impacts caused by Vertical Integration of the Export Banana Trade in Honduras

The United States Congress would not allow it and other intergovernmental trade negotiations to happen, and these negotiations led to an agreement called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (George et al., 2015, p. 476).

specially when it comes to products made from animals or plants, in a step towards more

US have opened their border only in 1900. The first 50 years of 1800 's, the European continent was under protectionism period. It is only in 1860 's that European 's countries opened their borders. This period was marked by the “abolition” of the Corn law in 1915 in UK and a agreement of free trade between UK and France. For about 30 years trade in European continent was liberalized. However this period coincides with an economic downturn. That 's why some analyst such as Bairoch (Bairoch , 1976) have seen a causality between free trade and recession. But few years after economist as Messerlin (Messerlin, 1985) have contradicted this theory. Nevertheless from 1890 's until the creation of the GATT (1947) European countries took again protectionist measures. France - with the “Meline act” for agriculture- and Germany were the leaders of the protectionist wave. During the crisis of 1920 's all the countries throughout the world adopted protectionist measures. Even the historical biggest defender of free trade, the UK adopted the “safeguarding of industry act” in 1921. In 1947, 23 countries signed the GATT. The goal of the GATT is not to found free trade but is t coordinates commercials policies in order to create more jobs and more growth. The GATT have been useful to drop import tariffs. . But dissensions between the US and the EU during the Uruguay round ( 1980 's) have showed the limits of the multilateral principle which is the key principle of GATT. In 1994, the

     The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995. One of the youngest of the international organizations, the WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War. The World Trade Organization exists to ensure that trade between nations flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. It provides and regulates the legal issues which governs world trade now .