INTRODUCTION Dating back to 1949, the World Trade Organization was preceded by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The primary purpose of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was to reduce tariffs and other barriers to trade, as well as to eliminate preferences in order for trade to be mutually advantageous. Currently, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is still in effect under the World Trade Organization, which was established to facilitate international trade, economic growth and development. However, the goals of the World Trade Organization have been called into question. Although the intergovernmental organization was established in order to aid developing states to succeed into developed states, the World Trade Organization has been criticized for widening the social gap between the Global North and South. The World Trade Organization’s agenda and implementation of its agreements have all served to advance the interests of developed states, sidelining the interests of developing states. What is increasingly more alarming is the fact that three-fourths of the members within the World Trade Organization compromise of developing states. This paper will aim to analyze the various ways in which the World Trade Organization has marginalized and allowed for the exploitation of developing states. Through examining the consequences of foreign direct investment, the dispute settlement process, tariff escalation and the TRIPS agreement, this paper will
Weeks, R. (2006). International trade issues. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc..World Bank.org. (November, 2011). Globalization and international trade (Chapter12, pp.
To facilitate these relations between nations, the globalized economies require a dynamization of trade and social relations, intensifying the flow of goods and services. A number of international agreements were created for this purpose. These groups discuss measures to reduce and / or eliminate tariffs, promoting the expansion of trade relations between member countries.
As I am sure you are quite aware, the trade and use of asbestos has always been a contested issue on and international scale. Canada itself was involved in an international trading dispute regarding asbestos with France, when the French government prohibited the import of all asbestos and asbestos products in a 1996 decree. The economic sanctions that have been placed on Canadian asbestos products by France have arguably damaged the historic economic and political relationship between the two countries. With the prohibition of Canadian asbestos exports obviously negatively impacting domestic producers, I think it was in Canada’s best economic interests to dispute the trade issue with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO (through its dispute settling process panel and appellate board) found France justified in its prohibition of asbestos products which would have a severe impact on Canadian asbestos exports both with France and gradually worldwide. Despite Canada’s asbestos economy being severely weakened, I feel that the right decision was made insofar that human health and life was protected, even over any trade agreement that was made between the two countries. Enclosed I have written a descriptive and analytic report with my findings on the whole asbestos dispute between Canada and France, and its eventual repercussions for all parties involved.
A lot has changed in the world economic scenario over the past 25 years. World trade has increased from $8.7 trillion in 1990 to over $46 trillion in 2014 (Global Economic Prospects 2016: 219). These numbers reflect a growth in the trade of goods and services amongst different nations, which came as a result of globalization. With that being said, an economic interdependence has been formed. Countries that have been actively participating in this phenomenon by joining trade agreements, eliminating tariffs, and facilitating commerce have highly benefited from this transformation. On the other hand, nations that have isolated themselves from these opportunities through protectionist policies, have been negatively impacted. Members involved in these trading blocs gain a competitive edge over those who opted to stay out. Brazil serves as a good example of the negative effects that adapting a protectionist policy may have on a nation 's economy. The country has access to a vast amount of primary resources, including soy beans, oil, sugar cane, iron ore, coffee, and orange juice. Nonetheless, its exports account for a mere 11.2% of its GDP, in comparison to the world average, which in 2015, amounted for a total of 29.3% (World Bank Group, 2016). One of the main reasons for the disparity between these numbers is given by the lack of free trade in the government 's foreign policies. This paper will closely examine two trade agreements in an effort to compare and contrast the
However, there seem to be disagreements on China’s position and performance in the WTO in the future. It is being said that China’s view on the WTO’s multilateral trade system is ambiguous. Furthermore China is blamed for being irresponsible when it comes to maintaining he international order and global economic governance. According to Rafael Leal-Arcas, 2010, China has been playing at best a passive role and, at worst, a disruptive role with respect to the global trading system. “China would be broken, and a broken China could break the WTO. Therefore, the WTO’s most difficult challenge may be to discipline trade relations among China and other WTO members. All WTO members should work collectively to encourage China to change its behavior.” By so doing, they may promote the development of the WTO. (Susan Ariel Aaronson, 2010)
Although multinational corporations and international trade institutions are the subject of criticism, not all observers share a negative perspective. Many commentaries are published which speak in favor of beneficial and positive accomplishments, especially in relation to the international institutions. For instance, free trade positively contributes to overall development of the world. Global free trade promotes global economic growth, it creates jobs, makes companies more competitive, and lowers
The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established on January 1, 1995 and is the most powerful trade body in the world. It has 133 member nations and 33 nations with observer status who have applied for membership. (Americanlands) On behalf of its members the WTO "promotes, monitors and adjudicates international trade" (Goldstein 378) in order to establish a free trade system. It covers every field of economic and social endeavors, including: textiles, agriculture, clothing, telecommunications, banking, government purchases, food sanitation regulations, services, industrial standards and intellectual property. (Americanlands) Although this organization is seemingly beneficial, like all
In international economy, trade agreement was made to gain fairness between the involved countries. Thus, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is established to protect these agreements and serves consequences for those who violate the agreement. Dumping is one of the examples of violation of the agreements. WTO defined dumping as imported goods in the market of the importing country with price less than its normal value (Trewin&Bosworth 1999, p.134). From one perspective, to protect local producers from dumping, the government imposes anti-dumping measures on imported goods. From another perspective, the anti-dumping measures will cause less incentive for local producers to produce efficiently; thus, it is important to avoid using
The World Trade Organization was formed in 1995 replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was formed in 1948. For over forty years the GATT lead trade agreements and mainly tariffs agreements. The WTO was formed to settle conflicts between trade based under the principles of being non-discrimination, reciprocity, transparency and binding and enforceable commitments. Most trade conflict come around high tariffs on particular goods or goods that country’s think are potential dangerous. The WTO however has no actual power to enforce such ruling but relies on the larger more developed countries to enforce such rulings. Throughout the past 19 years there have been hundreds of cases brought to the attention of the WTO.
This report addresses different types of trade used internationally. It will discuss trade agreements e.g. NAFTA, TPP, and the effect they have had on individual countries. It will also focus on the WTO and their role in international trade. There has been significant secondary research in order to write this report such as reading articles, blogs and speeches.
When it comes to the political set up of the international organizations that positively and negatively affects poorer nations can be classified in realist’s point of view as powerful nations lobbying the international organizations to pass their agenda that affects smaller countries in the interests of promoting national hegemonic power. As a results, of this, regardless of the debts accumulated by powerful international organization’s veto power, they are still on top of the average poor nation because of its political hegemonic power and influence over International Organizations. The economic policies set by hegemonic powers to be passed down to the small nations by the international organizations sometimes keep them on the hook of a
Developed nations trumpet the claim that the answer to developing nations’ international trade issues is untrammeled or open market activity as opposed to government intervention by developed nations’ governments. This begs the question as to what extent the governments of developed nations are or should be responsible for supporting developing countries’ growth in international trading markets. Often the protectionist actions of developed nations’ governments to enhance their own international trading activities are the very hindrances faced by the developing countries, so much so that the developed nations are morally obligated to support the developing countries to offset the roadblocks created by these same developed countries with tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers.
Trading agricultural products is a staple of the world’s economy, where countries have a supply and demand, and if they cannot produce enough supply to meet their demand they can look towards imports to fill the extra requirement needed. Or if they have an overabundance of supply they can export the surplus to make a little extra money. With trading globally there is a bit more involved, there must be rules and regulations to ensure that all trades with all people is fair. One country cannot export a product for a price to one country then significantly raise or lower the price for another country. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a treaty started in 1948 to reduce tariffs and other restrictions so that trade and economic
Literature on the first category takes a motivational approach to explain trade agreements, emphasizing countries’ interests behind their settlement. Secondly, the literature focuses on the political settings and relations affecting trade agreements, which include domestic politics and the involvement of a country in other trade agreements. Lastly, the literature discusses the level of economic development of the countries involved and its implications to trade agreements.
International trade is an often-vexing field of study. The breadth of its scope, and the multitude of political, socio-economic, and strategic components that influence its inputs and outputs, can seem staggeringly huge, frustrating attempts to narrow in on and accurately study a select topic. One commonly observed trend is that of economic globalization, the phenomenon wherein countries’ economic situations, bolstered by increased international economic cooperation, can become significantly dependent on other countries. Despite its seemingly inexorable nature, however, globalization - and international economic cooperation in general - is not a fixed variable in international affairs, nor has it ever been. Many kinds of factors play a large role in determining the success or failure of efforts to organize international cooperation. On the domestic level, these chiefly consist of public influence and economic and developmental circumstances, while on the international level, factors including state sovereignty and political systems and institutions are highly influential. The worldwide existence of domestic sector-inclined protectionist tendencies and international competitiveness, each to various degrees, will undoubtedly continue in the future; however, the interconnectedness of international economic cooperation, bolstered by international institutions,