FTA Negotiations Research Articles

China-Taiwan ECFA Investment Agreement and Its Implications for the Korea-China FTA Negotiations

Cross-Strait Investment Protection and Promotion (i.e. ECFA Investment Agreement) Was concluded on August 9, 2012, after eight rounds of negotiations. Two countries reached the Economic Cooperation and Framework Agreement (ECFA) earlier in 2010 which has six sub-negotiation areas of trade in goods, trade in services, investments, dispute settlement, industrial cooperation, and maritime customs. The investment deal was struck for the first time among the six areas.

The Tiger Meets the Dragon:The Political Economy of Korea-China FTA

Korea and China are currently at the center of trade talks with the on-going Korea-China FTA negotiations. However, both countries` approach to negotiations is somewhat divergent in that the former chooses comprehensive and deep FTAs including non-traditional issues, while the latter focuses on a limited scope with a gradual and phased approach to negotiations. This paper tries to present five asymmetries that need to be tackled: (1) the internal consensus cultivating process; (2) the pay-off matrix in the time horizon to realize FTA gains; (3) the preferred negotiation approach; (4) the depth and scope of FTA; and (5) the existence of NTBs. The abovementioned asymmetries with the growing bilateral trade pattern between the two countries call for a sensible approach to the FTA negotiations. Based on the SWOT analysis, we find that a serious industrial restructuring especially in politically sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, electronics, and general machinery is inevitable in Korea. Moreover, Korean government should not veer away from its single undertaking strategy as it has been proven effective from its previous FTAs with the US and EU. This strategy allows for a more realistic and practical approach covering goods, services, investments and other complex areas that may be out of the scope of the WTO, thus, resulting in more concessions across areas making big deals possible with the elimination of tariffs and nontariff barriers alike. Nonetheless, opposition from losing sectors should not holdback both governments in pursuing substantial liberalization.

Agricultural cooperation among the North-East Asian countries

The following four aspects should be examined in detail to revitalize North-East Asian agricultural cooperation specialized with Korea, Japan, and China. First, quality and safety standards of agricultural food should be unified. Secondly, it is necessary to build a food security cooperative system in North-East Asia. If three countries build the system, they can overcome a problem such as unstable supply and demand due to natural disaster, and also they can cope with food crisis. Thirdly, to establish North-East Asian Agro-valley is needed. After forming food production belt that connects Korea, Hokkaido in Japan, and the three north-eastern provinces in China, it is possible to realize high value-added agriculture with producing and processing of complementary food for partner country. Lastly, trilateral FTA negotiations should be managed carefully with operating the agricultural special zone and exclusion or prolong period of removal of tariff on sensitive items.

Competition for international standards in the FTA negotiations: a case study on "electronics" in the Korea-EU FTA

Competition for international standards in the FTA negotiations: a case study on "electronics" in the Korea-EU FTA

A comparative analysis of TBT chapters in Korea’s and China’s FTAs: Implications for TBT negotiations of the Korea-China FTA

Korea-China FTA negotiations were launched in earnest in May 2012. Elimination of technical barriers to trade (TBT) is one of the key issues in which the South Korean government is interested since technical barriers significantly affect trade between the two countries. Previous studies show that national standards and certification policies may act as TBT. In order to eliminate TBT, the World Trade Organization (WTO) obliges Members to observe the principles of non-discrimination and necessity, international standards, equivalence and mutual recognition, and transparency through the TBT Agreement. This paper derives policy implications for TBT negotiations of the Korea-China FTA from the analysis of Korea`s and China`s FTAs. These include: i) defining de facto mandatory standards as technical regulations; ii) including local government`s and non-government`s measures in the scope of application; iii) stipulating provisions of non-discrimination in the process of certification and accreditation; iv) discussing necessity requirements with respect to specific industries such as IT in the Korea-China FTA negotiations. In addition, it is of importance that the both countries bring to the table such issues as: v) determining and rejecting relevant international standards; vi) possible ways of signing a mutual recognition agreement (MRA); vii) transparency regarding the development and notification of technical regulations and standards.

A Reseach on Industrial Property Rights Protection in Case of Korea-China-Japan Free Trade Agreements

This paper aimed at analysing IPR(Industrial Property Rights) related issues in the Korea-China-Japan FTA. Also, considering the importance of IPR in the Korea-China-Japan FTA, this study examines the IPR protection system for Korea"s position. This paper examines from various angles the complex relationships between economic development and IPR protection at the national level, and between IPR and technological innovation.<BR> In order to analyze the Korea"s FTA strategies for IPR protection, this paper introduces a graph of correlation between economic development and IPR protection, putting U-shaped theory and an inverted-U-shaped relationship model.<BR> According to the results, as a country"s economic development level arrives at t2, strengthening of foreign IPRs protection, decreasing of R&D investments and, a slowdown in economic growth, the government should suggest a certain industrial policy or trade policy regarding social high criterion has been superseded by social benefits.<BR> If a negotiation for the Korea-China-Japan FTA begins, in this situation it is not difficult to see that IPR related issues will be critical. Considering the importances of IPR in the Korea-China-Japan FTA negotiation, this research examines the IPR protection system for three countries, and reviews the expected issues.

ASEAN FTAs with the EU and Southeast Asian approaches to services for development

FDI in service industries will feature prominently in the EU's bilateral FTA negotiations with ASEAN countries. The EU is particularly interested in liberalizing such FDI in Southeast Asia, as this would go some way to compensating for the EU deficit in goods trade with the ASEAN countries. This article argues that contrary to EU statements, ASEAN countries do recognize that services are essential to development, but that they adopt a combination of two approaches that were first developed in urban contexts in developed countries: development and growth management. The first approach entails a greater role of the state in the promotion of service industries: financial services in Singapore and ICT in Malaysia. The second approach, illustrated by the experience of Malaysia and Thailand in the retail sector, seeks to mitigate the adverse economic and social effects of the growth of service industries. If EU FTA negotiations with individual ASEAN members are to have any chance of success, the EU must recogni...

South Korea-China FTA Negotiation and Its Influence on the Manufactured Goods

South Korea-China FTA Negotiation and Its Influence on the Manufactured Goods

Korea’s Strategies for ICT Standards Internationalisation

Korea and China are among the rising challengers in the international ICT (Information Communication and Technology) standards regime. They are attempting to internationalize their home-grown technologies. As latecomers they share similarities and display differences. This paper examines two Korean cases (WIPI and WiBro), and compares with Chinese cases. Thereby it helps to conceptualize and evaluate latecomers’ strategies for international standardization. Comparison of the two countries’ strategies for international standardization is useful and timely particularly considering forthcoming FTA negotiations between the two countries where TBT (technical barriers to trade) including standards becomes a critical part of the agreement. The cases of the two countries share some commonalities in terms of origination (local R&amp;D), government leadership and motivation (reduction of royalties). The main difference is that while Korea is oriented towards the outside, China is towards the inside, at least by now. Due to its huge domestic markets and global influence, China’s standards form a real threat to the incumbent standards from traditional players like US and EU.

South Korean FTA Negotiations

Abstract Scholars and practitioners have argued convincingly that there exists a distinct South Korean national style in negotiation. However, recent Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the U.S. and ROK confirm that under certain conditions, national style can be less relevant and quite possibly irrelevant.

A Two-level Game Theoretic Approach to the Successful Korea-China FTA Negotiations

A Two-level Game Theoretic Approach to the Successful Korea-China FTA Negotiations

Establishing Rules of Origin by Items for Major Industries in the Korea-China FTA Negotiation

Establishing Rules of Origin by Items for Major Industries in the Korea-China FTA Negotiation

An Analysis of the Impact to Korea-China FTA Negotiation from China-Taiwan ECFA

An Analysis of the Impact to Korea-China FTA Negotiation from China-Taiwan ECFA

Legal Issues on E-commerce under Korea-China FTA Negotiation

Legal Issues on E-commerce under Korea-China FTA Negotiation

A Review on the discussion of the duty drawback system in Korea-EU FTA negotiations

A Review on the discussion of the duty drawback system in Korea-EU FTA negotiations

EU and U.S. Non-Reciprocal Preferences: Maintaining the Acquis

In the light of the disparity of bargaining leverage in FTA negotiations between the EU or the U.S. and developing countries, this article presents a legal mechanism to maintain the status quo, that is, the acquis of current trade arrangements. On the basis of the test established in the EC-Tariff Preferences case, it is argued that the Enabling Clause allows for differentiation between developing countries on the basis of their levels of intra-regional trade. A scheme is then constructed which allows the EU and the U.S. to differentiate in favor of current beneficiaries of non-reciprocal trade preference schemes in this way. This allows the EU and the U.S. to maintain the acquis without making radical changes to their trade and development policy. Where the status quo is an option, developing countries involved in FTA negotiations would have a feasible best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) to replace the current alternative of a significant reduction of market access to the EU or the U.S. While the maintenance of the status quo is up to the industrialized country in question, given that the trade preferences are unilateral in nature, the scheme constructed debunks the myth that there is a legal requirement to replace the current arrangements by reciprocal trade agreements in the absence of a waiver.

A Study on the Key Issues of International Investment in FTA Negotiations

A Study on the Key Issues of International Investment in FTA Negotiations

Implications for the Korea-China FTA's Negotiations of the Rules of Origin in the Korea-U.S. FTA

Implications for the Korea-China FTA's Negotiations of the Rules of Origin in the Korea-U.S. FTA

Determinants of Staging Categories for the Tariff Elimination in the FTA Negotiations

The East Asian countries including Korea, China, and Japan were latecomers in FTA negotiations, beginning to consider the FTA policies since the late 1990s. This study analyzes the determinants of staging categories for the tariff elimination in FTA negotiations of East Asian countries, using a probit model. It is crucial for the successful completion of the FTA negotiations for goods to set up the product scope for tariff elimination and the exclusion list in the tariff schedule in order to maximize the national economic welfare. The empirical results indicate that the East Asian countries were not losers in determining the staging categories consistent with the pre-negotiation expectations.

Negotiating a Korea – EU free trade agreement: easier said than done

A number of countries have chosen recently to shift away from an exclusive support to trade multilateralism and towards regional or bilateral trade agreements. Being no exceptions in this respect, the Republic of South Korea and the European Union have engaged in a bilateral FTA negotiation in early 2007. The objective of the paper is to account for the unexpected difficulties encountered in the negotiation. The paper starts with a brief overview of the trade and investment relations between the two partners and underlines the complementarity between the two partners, as well as their respective offensive and defensive interests. As a next step, the paper delves into the “politics” of the FTA negotiation with a view to highlighting the motivations and objectives of the various partners involved. It comes to the conclusion that the major reason why the negotiation turned out to be more complex than initially expected relates to the two partners’ diverging views as to what a discriminatory FTA should imply.