Spatial Imaginaries and the Geopolitics of Trade: A Constructivist Perspective

The study examined various government programs, trade and industrial policies and their impacts on survival, growth and development of Small Scale Industry towards their marketing activities in Nigeria with special focus on Lagos State, Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to find out if there is any significant relationship between trade and industrial policies, growth and development of Small Scale Industry and marketing activities in the country. The federal government of Nigeria has over the years shown great interest in development and supports of Small Scale Industries by formulating various programs, trade and industrial policies to stimulate growth and development of SSI and also ensure adequate financing to the sector. Yet, many Small Scale Industries in the country have either packed up, folded up, operating below average capacity or moved to the neighbouring countries for enabling environment. The dependent variable growth and development of Small Scale Industry was characterized into manpower size, business structure, technological development and advancement, among others. While the independent variable, trade and industrial policies were measured using Likert scale. The results revealed that the government trade and industrial policies have little or no effect on growth and development of Small Scale Industries and marketing activities in Nigeria as indicated by the low enhancement of SSIs development on financial assistance of 49% in Lagos State. The study further showed that government trade and industrial policies have little or no impact on technological development of SSIs in the country as indicated by 93% of SSIs that started with traditional technology which still maintain 49% tradition; 7% semi-mechanized, and 0% full mechanized/automation. It was concluded that trade and industrial policies of government were formulated with good intention to stimulate SSIs development and improve marketing activities of SSIs in the country but bureaucracy, corruption, poor policy implementation and lack of adequate awareness made them very ineffective.

A recent WTO case held the U.S.' export tax subsidies illegal. Despite strong political resistance, which fed a long and costly legislative process, the U.S. recently repealed these subsidies. This case and the U.S. reaction revealed that although the U.S. is the single super economic power, it is not as dominant a player as some portray it. The case also shed light on the tension between the present international trade and tax regimes and the difficulty of applying WTO law to income tax measures. This tension did not escalate earlier mainly because countries tended not to use their income tax systems for protectionism. This article suggests that the use of tax systems to protect domestic interests may increase as a consequence of economic globalization. As a result, the current disconnect between the international trade and tax regimes shall cause both regimes to be challenged, as they may both apply in some cases with different and conflicting results. The article observes that the international trade and tax regimes cannot be simply reconciled or somehow meshed together, yet, it argues that their policies could (and should) be coordinated, with some adjustments made to the present legal constructs. It suggests that such coordination would benefit from the establishment of an international tax organization, which shall be responsible to making the evolving international tax regime more compatible with the international trade regime (but not part of the WTO). The article analyzes and rejects other solutions, primarily the one I call the tax expenditure solution, which is based on the contention, rejected in this article, that the international tax and trade regimes do not conflict, which proponents are willing to subject some aspects of income tax laws to WTO scrutiny as they are, without any adjustments. Finally, the article argues that coordinating international tax and international trade policies may be beneficial to both regimes even apart from the solution of the aforementioned incongruity.

The interface of trade and environment in the global arena in a multilateral setting is characterized by both trade regimes and environmental regimes, under several international agreements devised over the past few decades. International trade policies are largely governed by the WTO. The global environmental policies are governed by various Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), especially by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). There is some compatibility between the two regimes in their provisions of policies. Lack of compatibility of trade provisions (specific trade obligations, STOs) specified under MEAs with the trade policies under the WTO framework is often complicated by the fact that signatories of MEAs vary substantially from one agreement to another within the large set of MEAs, and also differ from the list of 153-member countries of the WTO. Since the WTO regime has a predominant role in devising various international trade policies and has the most well-equipped dispute settlement mechanism relative to any other trade or environmental regime, and since much of the world trade tends to follow the WTO trade stipulations, it is important to examine relevant aspects of trade and environment/CC interface under the WTO charter.KeywordsDoha RoundInternational Trade PolicyAppellate Body ReportDispute Settlement UnderstandExhaustible Natural ResourceThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The paper concerns implications of the WTO rules on domestic regulations and trade policy measures and analises trade policy options available for a WTO member-state under the WTO rules that may maintain benefiting from the WTO membership. It describes effects of the WTO disciplines on institutional structure of the member-states and analyses issues relating to the formulation of the WTO compatible trade policy measures and mechanisms of their application, examines possibilities for the utilisation of contingency protection measures available under the WTO law. Issues of institution building, trade regime formation and creation of an adequate normative basis of the trade policy formulation is also touched upon based on such analysis, given that the mentioned aspects of the WTO membership is a necessary condition for a successful WTO compliant trade policy. At the same time, it also becomes important to ensure achievment of the development and welfare interests and avoid of subjecting foreign trade measures to private interests by way of establishment of the appropriate procedures and legal environment. Therefore, shaping trade regime and legal procedures in a way enabling formulation and implementation of measures serving the community interests and excluding or minimising utilisation therof in the interests of the private interest groups aquire utmost importance. Based on this, the paper analyses interactions between the rules, practices and institutions comprising the WTO law and the trade regimes of the member­states and explores possibilities of establishing, conducting and adaptation of the WTO complaint trade policies capable of ensuring acievement of social and econimic development goals. Therefore, the paper explores the trade policy regulation mechanisms of the states within the normative and institutional framework established by the WTO law, as well as the possibilities of introducing economic and social development-oriented trade policies by the member-states and candidates for membership in accordance with the WTO law. For these purpose, the legal and institutional aspects of the WTO affecting formation of trade policies and the application of trade measures by the member states and consequencies of mutual institutional influences between the WTO law and the trade policies of the member states are highlighted, principal legal and institutional effects arising from the WTO agreements have been analysed, experience of the WTO members in trade policy formulation and implementation have been summarized, deficiencies and shortfalls in the internal legal systems and institutional structures that may arise in connection with the membership in the WTO identified based on analysis of the experience of the WTO members, recommendations and proposals regarding legal adaptation and institutional changes that may be considered necessary or appropriate in connection with WTO membership have been formulated. It is shown that membership in the WTO results in long-term effects on the country’s economy, and these effects concern primarily the legal regulation of trade relations. WTO membership, creates the need to constantly adapt the application of trade policy measures to the WTO requirements. The paper asserts that specific times, durations and purposes of trade measures applicable in accordance with the WTO law depend on the specifics of the objectives and the issues to be resolved in a specific political and economic conditions and, therefore, must be determined individually in each case. The trade policy in such case needs to be purposefully and organically reconciled with general macroeconomic measures such as tax policy, labor market regulations, investment environment, currency policy, etc., in order to be able to maintain economic efficience and social welfare under the WTO rules, otherwise it is possible that membership in the WTO can become a source of economic and social tensions. WTO membership may vreate serious economic and social risks. Mitigation of such risks requires adaptation of the legal regulation, as well as institutional and power structures. Solutions should accomodate specific political, economic and social situations, institutional structure and would require involvement of adequate fianacial and intellectual resources. The paper also toches upon the issues of transparency, market competition, good governance methods, market inadequacy and market protection possibilities. As an overall conclusion, it is asserted that adherence to the WTO rules does not ensure the increase in the level of well-being, economic and social development, but only creates the basis for it. Achieving these goals may not be possible through membership in the WTO, but through appropriate organizational structure taking into account the membership requirements, as well as thoughtful decisions on the use of opportunities provided by the WTO. Although the requirements are numerous, the freedom to decide about these requirements is not small. This last aspect is a key issue to consider in terms of the impact of the WTO on trade policy and market access conditions.

Iniciativas de planificación territorial transfronteriza en Matamoros-Brownsville (México-Estados Unidos)

In October 2017 when presenting the Policy Paper, Preparing for our Future UK Trade Policy, the Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, recognised that for the first time since the 1970s, the United Kingdom (UK) would have its own independent trade policy. Since the last time the UK had an independent trade policy, there have been notable constitutional changes within the UK, notably the creation of devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All parts of the UK will be differently affected by the decision to leave the European Union (EU) (i.e. Brexit) after 29 March 2019, particularly by the creation of an independent trade policy. As a member of the EU customs union and of the single market, the UK does not at present have an independent trade policy. Instead, trade policy is “largely determined by the EU”, a position that will change upon the UK’s departure from the EU. While trade is a reserved matter, areas of devolved competence such as agriculture will need to be taken account of in any future UK trade policy. The devolved administrations will require to be involved in what Dr Fox identified as “a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a stronger, fairer and more prosperous United Kingdom that is more open and outward-looking than ever before.” Indeed, the Policy Paper mentioned above further recognised that, “(t)he devolved administrations will have a direct interest in our future trade agreements,” with this recognition accompanied by a commitment, “to seek the input of the devolved administrations to ensure they influence the UK’s future trade policy, recognising the role they will have in developing and delivering it.” In this present paper, we critically review the UK government’s current approach to involving the devolved administrations in post-Brexit trade policy development. We demonstrate that there is a significant lack of clarity on the future role of the devolved administrations in the development of trade policy. The Scottish government is particularly concerned in this respect given that its extensive devolution settlement includes areas with significant trade dimensions such as agriculture, fisheries and environmental policy. We argue that greater clarity on such involvement is very much needed and in response, propose the creation of a Trade Policy Committee through an amendment to the Trade Bill.

In October 2017 when presenting the Policy Paper, Preparing for our Future UK Trade Policy, the Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, recognised that for the first time since the 1970s, the United Kingdom (UK) would have its own independent trade policy.1 Since the last time the UK had an independent trade policy, there have been notable constitutional changes within the UK, notably the creation of devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All parts of the UK will be differently affected by the decision to leave the European Union (EU) (i.e. Brexit) after 29 March 2019, particularly by the creation of an independent trade policy. As a member of the EU customs union and of the single market, the UK does not at present have an independent trade policy. Instead, trade policy is “largely determined by the EU”2, a position that will change upon the UK’s departure from the EU. While trade is a reserved matter, areas of devolved competence such as agriculture will need to be taken account of in any future UK trade policy. The devolved administrations will require to be involved in what Dr Fox identified as “a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a stronger, fairer and more prosperous United Kingdom that is more open and outward-looking than ever before.”3 Indeed, the Policy Paper mentioned above further recognised that, “(t)he devolved administrations will have a direct interest in our future trade agreements,”4 with this recognition accompanied by a commitment, “to seek the input of the devolved administrations to ensure they influence the UK’s future trade policy, recognising the role they will have in developing and delivering it.”5 In this present paper, we critically review the UK government’s current approach to involving the devolved administrations in post-Brexit trade policy development. We demonstrate that there is a significant lack of clarity on the future role of the devolved administrations in the development of trade policy. The Scottish government is particularly concerned in this respect given that its extensive devolution settlement includes areas with significant trade dimensions such as agriculture, fisheries and environmental policy. We argue that greater clarity on such involvement is very much needed and in response, propose the creation of a Trade Policy Committee through an amendment to the Trade Bill.

Introduction to Trade Policy provides a comprehensive overview of the rules and regulations that govern trade flow. It discusses the trade policy formulation process of major international economic players, and analyzes existing trade policy tools that countries may resort to in order to take advantage of the benefits of international trade and to protect themselves against its dangers, as well as their implications for trade policy, law and negotiations. In Section I, the book explores the ways in which interest groups interact with government and legislators to shape trade policies. By developing an analytical view of trade policy formulation systems in the U.S., European Union, the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Canada, Mexico and Australia, the book will help the reader to gain a better understanding of these countries’ trade policy developments and also to apply such learning to the analysis of the trade policy formulation of any other countries. Section II goes on to explain how trade policy tools are used by governments to achieve trade and other policy objectives, while Section III analyses trade in services and the multilateral trade rules on Intellectual Property. Finally, Section IV uses hypothetical case studies in simulation exercises to illustrate trade policy decision-making and trade agreement negotiations in a bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral setting. This is the ideal introduction to international trade policy formulation for students and professionals in the areas of law, politics, economics and public policy who are seeking to develop a global view of international trade, gain insights into trade negotiations and understand the motivations behind the policies and actions of governments regarding international trade issues. This book is also the ideal companion to any traditional legal casebook on international trade or on international economic law.

Introduction. In today’s globalized world, international trade plays a key role in the economic development of countries. Along with multilateral trade agreements concluded within the framework of the World Trade Organization, bilateral and regional trade agreements have become widespread. Among the most common forms of such agreements are regional trade agreements and preferential trade arrangements. Although these terms are often used synonymously, there are significant conceptual and practical differences between them that require detailed analysis. The relevance of studying these forms of trade agreements is due to their increasing number and impact on the world trading system. The purpose of the article is to analyze the forms of implementation of modern trade policy, caused by the increased demand for preferential trade in the context of combating global asymmetries of economic development. Results. The presented work proposes an author’s approach to comparing RTAs and PTAs, which will make it possible to avoid terminological approximations that lead to distortion of information about the state of implementation of international trade policy. It is noted that the The Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), contains elements of both types of agreements, which creates opportunities for deepening trade integration with European partners while maintaining flexibility in relations with other countries of the world. Conclusions. The research proves that regional trade agreements and preferential trade arrangements are two different but interrelated instruments of international trade policy. A new theoretical paradigm is needed to understand the interaction between multilateral and regional trade regimes, where the WTO is considered not as an alternative to RTA, but as a trigger for the formation of successful preferential agreements. When understanding the asymmetries of international economic development, geopolitical analysis should be combined with the study of empirical data on trade flows, thereby demonstrating that trade regimes function as tools for nurturing geopolitical allies. The concept of the life cycle of trade regimes is considered. The emphasis is on the need to balance between different trade regimes in accordance with the stage of development of the country, geopolitical positioning and changing global context.

This paper develops the concept of spatial imaginations as the constructions of places as meaningful entities that establish identities of self and other through particular narratives and associated practices. It argues that traditionally, International Relations has ignored question of space despite their obvious centrality to the discipline. This has changed with the “spatial turn”, which has its precursors in critical scholarship, especially drawing on sociology and political geography. The paper traces these contributions to the conceptual development of space in its material and discursive dimensions. It proposes that spatial imaginations are central to relations between “Turkey” and “Europe”, establishing both as meaningful yet contested entities. In the works collated in the special issue of which this paper serves as an introduction, we may thus see facets of three core claim of the spatial turn: that space matters,that space needs to be made, and that spaces need to be formed. Against the prevailing attempts to fix the meaning of the spaces of “Turkey” and “Europe”, I end with a plea to provide room for the articulation of a multiplicity of spatial imaginations.

Trade policies create both 'winners' and 'losers', as some actors stand to benefit and others are left behind. More often than not, it has been women who have borne the negative impacts of international trade policy and it is thus imperative that future trade policy is negotiated and implemented with an eye toward women's interests. This collection represents an innovative systematic evaluation of the debate relating to international trade law, policy, and gender equality. It analyses the role of WTO as a trade policy setter, current debates and possibilities for gender-inclusive trade agreements and emerging topics such as e-commerce and gender-responsive standards. With a range of interdisciplinary contributions and national and regional case studies, this collection offers a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the intersections between trade law and gender, and is vital to ensuring that both men and women 'win' from trade policy in the future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Lack of integration into the global economy is a major factor in the continued underdevelopment of the poorest countries. The reasons for this include obstacles faced by exporters both abroad and at home: access to foreign markets is frequently limited by import barriers, while inadequate infrastructure and weak policies at home - including their own trade policies - often frustrate producers seeking to compete abroad.With many low-income countries (LICs) lagging in the global effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there are calls for intensified action to spur growth and development. Trade is one key area where action can be taken. This paper suggests possible actions to foster trade integration for the LICs, substantially increasing their export potential and thereby helping them to progress toward the Millennium Development Goals.As the foundation for these ambitions, we emphasize the role of a secure, open global trading environment - strengthened further by concluding the WTO Doha Round. From this base, the poorest countries could also benefit from better trade preferences from the Advanced Market (AM) and major Emerging Market (EM) countries. Building the capacity to take advantage of trade opportunities will require support from the international community and policy reforms - including to their own trade regimes - by the poorest countries themselves. The Fifteen Point Plan of possible actions outlined in this paper could increase annual exports of the least developed countries (LDCs) by US$10 billion or more, with additional benefits for other LICs.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the legal complications prevail towards the architecture of mutual policy design between trade and climate change regimes. The recent literature on this topic is mainly focused on commons and has significantly ignored the existing regulatory constraints between both the regimes. Therefore, in this study relevant WTO and environmental laws are critically examined in order to bring another side of literally work on trade‐climate policy framework. Moreover, the time factor, role of developing countries and two approaches are also discussed that are important constituents to be considered during ongoing climate change multilateral talks.Design/methodology/approachThis paper has six parts in total. Part one comprises of “Introduction”, part two gives “Overview of relevant WTO and climate change regulations”, part three describes “Antithesis of WTO and climate change rules” and explains the differences that both regimes posses in the basics of their nature, part four enumerates that how to galvanize the anticipated disputes among both the regimes, part five is focused on the participation of developing countries and their possible reservations towards climate policy and, part six gives some concluding remarks.FindingsThis study found four major points of caution while architecting climate change policy. First, the climate change policy gives excuse to certain economies to protect their domestic industry, which is supposedly the violation of WTO rules. Second, the disputes arise at WTO platform from the climate friendly trade policies would be a new inconvincible challenge. Third, the GATT article XX (general exceptions) and agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures (ASCM) are still not clearly defined under climate change regime. Fourth, the position of least developed countries (LDCs), there is no action plan as these countries are the most affected due to possible stringent trade‐climate policies.Research limitations/implicationsThis research posses potential policy implication for both governments and international organizations, and provides new direction to trade and climate change researchers. It opens the way to critically examine the legal issues addressed in this paper which subsequently help both trade climate change regimes to overcome such regulatory differences with mutual consensus.Practical implicationsAs policy implication this study suggests that what has been achieved during last two decades over climate change issue, and how long would it take to achieve the reasonable targets? In‐fact, the past work has succeeded to address the climate change as the global issue and it needs to be solved jointly but there is still a long way to make potential progress in order to architect the comprehensive policy and designing of multilateral agreements. It needs more time to constitute a climate change regime free from individual countries' political and economical interests and consensus amongst all major countries and group.Originality/valueMost the current literature only focuses common options between trade and climate change policy regimes and significantly ignores the potential legal constraints. In this regards, this study fills existing gap in trade and climate change policy constraints and gives another new direction for policy makers.

This paper models immigration policy as the outcome of political competition between interest groups representing individuals employed in different sectors. In standard positive theory, restrictive immigration policy results from a low‐skilled median voter voting against predominantly low‐skilled immigration. In the present paper, in contrast, once trade policies are liberalized, restrictive immigration policy results from anti‐immigration lobbying by interest groups representing the non‐traded sectors. It is shown that this is in line with empirical regularities from recent episodes of restrictive immigration legislation in the European Union. It is further shown that if governments negotiate bilaterally over trade and migration policy regimes, the equilibrium regime depends (i) on the sequencing of the international negotiation process and (ii) on the set of available trade and migration policy regimes. In particular, the most comprehensive and most welfare‐beneficial type of liberalization may be rejected only because a less comprehensive type of liberalization is available.

Territory and boundaries in international trade do not necessarily align with national borders. Trade governance does not merely organise flows between states as invariant territorial units nor is deterritorialised – instead, it can change boundaries and decouple the delineation of territory from national borders. Conceiving of the boundaries of territory in international trade – the space governed by trade rules – as subject to change, thus being endogenous to trade governance, avoids falling into the territorial trap. Adopting such a dynamic view of territory, this article develops a conceptual framework of changing boundaries in international trade. It identifies three conceptually distinct processes through which trade governance changes the boundaries of trade rules and, thus, of territory: (i) redrawing boundaries, when trading blocs as transnational agents negotiate common rules such as preferential trade agreements (PTAs); (ii) shifting boundaries, when trade rules are established by separate governance frameworks where spill-over effects give rise to interdependent trade policies that shift the actual boundaries of trade governance; and (iii) blurring boundaries, when trade rules are porous and entail provisions that extend to non-parties beyond their parties. Blurred boundaries render PTAs a ‘false dichotomy’ as formal membership does not fully delineate territory. Modern, deep trade governance intensifies these processes. Changing the boundaries of territory and maintaining their governance frameworks inherently entail political choices. Examples from EU and UK trade policy illustrate the three mechanisms of territorial change and the central role of political objectives: EU trade policy relies heavily on redrawing boundaries overseas. During Brexit, the UK selectively shifted the boundaries of EU trade governance, despite its policy independence. Lastly, blurred boundaries and overlapping territoriality in Northern Ireland are crucial to its post-Brexit governance architecture.