International Trade Negotiations Research Articles

Key Issues and Challenges for the 1999 World Trade Organization Agriculture Round

International trade negotiations continue to be a topic of great importance. In December 1993 negotiations for the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) came to a close after more than seven years. The next round of agricultural negotiations is scheduled to begin in late 1999. According to U.S. Trade Representative Barshefsky, agriculture is a field where the next World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations offer immense potential for direct, concrete benefits via further reduction of tariffs, export subsidies, and domestic supports linked to production (Barshefsky 1998). In addition, this round may be called the Green Round given the potential emphasis on global resource use and environmental issues. The

Who Speaks for Europe? The Delegation of Trade Authority in the EU

Although the Member States of the European Union (EU) have long since relinquished their power to act as autonomous actors in international trade negotiations, they have now chosen to regain some of their lost trade sovereignty. Neither the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ’s) 1994 opinion, nor the 1997 reform of the trade policy process at Amsterdam delegated full negotiating authority to the Commission over the ‘new trade issues’ of services and intellectual property. Instead, Member States settled on a hybrid form of decision‐making to enable ad hoc rather than structural delegation of competence. Was this a rollback of EU competence? If so, why has it occurred in the EU’s oldest and most successfully integrated, policy sector? A shift in the perceived trade‐off between economic interests and ideological bias on the part of key Member States can explain such a change. This article also explores the consequences for the future conduct of the EU’s trade policy and its influence in shaping the world political economy, as well as for the evolving pattern of federal allocation of jurisdiction in the EU.

The Environment and International Trade Negotiations: Open Loops in the Developing World

The World EconomyVolume 22, Issue 4 p. 535-545 The Environment and International Trade Negotiations: Open Loops in the Developing World Diana Tussie, Diana Tussie Programme on International Economic Institutions, FLASCO, ArgentinaSearch for more papers by this author Diana Tussie, Diana Tussie Programme on International Economic Institutions, FLASCO, ArgentinaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 17 December 2002 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9701.00216Citations: 5AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume22, Issue4June 1999Pages 535-545 RelatedInformation

Twenty-first century trade negotiations, the US constitution, and the elimination of US state-level protectionism

As international trade negotiations expand to address non-tariff barriers in the form of procurement practices, subsidies, and product standards, and new areas such as trade in services and investment, negotiators must constrain sub-federal government protectionism. Political and economic factors will drive the twenty-first century trade negotiator to seek additional constraints beyond those in current agreements. Recent US Supreme Court federalism jurisprudence has created uncertainty in the minds of negotiators as to whether the United States suffers from a constitutional incapacity to accept and implement anti-protectionism obligations and private party enforcement mechanisms with respect to US state governments. However, recent federalism jurisprudence related to the Commerce Clause, 10th Amendment, and 11th Amendment does not create any legal incapacity. Rather, negotiators will have to overcome the significant but not insurmountable political reluctance of the United States to comprehensively constrain state-level protectionism. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.

The Magic Bullet? The RTAA, Institutional Reform, and Trade Liberalization

The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA) of 1934 has long been heralded as a simple institutional reform with revolutionary consequences: namely, by changing the trade policymaking process in the United States, the RTAA is held responsible for the dramatic liberalization in U.S. policy beginning in the 1930s and 1940s. This article takes issue with this conventional wisdom. I argue that the standard accounts—which emphasize the importance of delegation for overcoming logrolling in Congress or for facilitating reciprocity in international trade negotiations—fail to provide an adequate explanation for just how the institutional innovation was achieved and sustained in the face of protectionist opposition. I suggest instead that trade liberalization was driven by exogenous changes in party constituencies and societal preferences that had crucial effects on congressional votes to extend the RTAA authority and liberalize trade after 1945. The preservation of the RTAA program was symptomatic rather than causal; as a consequence, it may well be abandoned in the future. The evolution of U.S. trade policy has been, and will continue to be, powerfully shaped by changes in the preferences of societal groups and in the positions taken by parties on the trade issue.

On Economic Sovereignty: European Nation-States Between Globalization and Regional Integration

European monetary unification has once again brought the issue of national economic sovereignty to the front: often regarded as the quintessential attribute of national sovereignty in the realm of economics, monetary powers have been most solemnly foregone and transferred to a supranational authority, independent from political bodies. Insistence by the French minister of Finance that restructuring French banking sector should take place within the national borders, frustration over the impossibility for continental member states to go on imposing an embargo over British beef, the opening of the so-called Millennium round of international trade negotiations in late November in Seattle, the loud reactions of the German government and press to the hostile takeover bid over Mannesmann, a giant “German” telecommunication company, by the “British” Vodafone: over recent months, there have been many examples of the ambivalent way in which European nation states react to the consequences of globalization and international monetary integration.

State trading and international trade negotiations

State trading and international trade negotiations

Democratic Politics and International Trade Negotiations

Elections affect both the probability of successful ratification and the terms of international trade agreements; domestic politics in its simplest form shapes international negotiations. Without elections, the extent of protection in a trade agreement increases with the degree of divided government, and the Schelling conjecture—whereby an international negotiator can point to a hawkish legislature to extract greater concessions from the foreign country—holds only when the legislature is not too hawkish. An election (where the executive anticipates the preferences of the legislature imperfectly) implies that when divisions in government rise, the probability of ratification failure increases, the expected outcome becomes more protectionist, and the executive's influence vis-à-vis the foreign country declines, thus challenging the Schelling conjecture.

Protection and Trade in Services: A Survey

In the past, international economists have ignored trade in services, but technological progress and international trade negotiations are likely to keep liberalization of trade in services a high-profile policy issue. Until recently, trade in services was mostly ignored by international economists, reflecting a perception that services were nontradable. This has never been true. Transportation and travel, for example, have always been important economic activities. In 1995, services trade had climbed to a 20-percent share of global trade - no doubt an underestimate, as the most dynamic component of trade in services is telecommunications, which is not being properly captured in conventional balance of payment statistics. Hoekman and Braga survey the literature on trade in services, focusing on the policies used to restrict such trade, the gains from liberalization, and the institutional mechanisms adopted in pursuit of liberalization. They argue that technological progress (which makes services more tradable) and international trade negotiations are likely to keep liberalization of trade in services a high-profile policy issue. They suggest that research focus on developing better estimates of the welfare costs of protectionism in the service sector. This will require quantifying barriers to the international exchange of services. This paper - a product of the International Trade Division, International Economics Department - was prepared for The Open Economies Review.

GATT-imposed changes going into effect move the U.S. and other countries closer together in patent practices

Patent protection encourages businesses to invest in innovation. Without it, chemical and pharmaceutical industries could not justify pumping billions of dollars annually into developing new products and bringing them to market. Without it, society would be deprived of many useful benefits. Thanks to the latest round of international trade negotiations, patent laws in many countries are in the process of changing to give inventors more adequate and effective access to patent rights. The first round of these changes in U.S. law goes into effect this month, with further changes to follow at year's end. Overall, the changes are likely to be a big help to the U.S. chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Different countries have had different patent terms, rules, and philosophies, some of which were particularly detrimental to chemical and pharmaceutical companies. For instance, some countries have excluded chemical and pharmaceutical compounds from patentability altogether. Depending on the country, a patent ...

Negotiation support using the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution

The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution is a flexible methodology for systematically studying strategic conflicts in the real world, and is therefore a natural tool for negotiation support. The basic definitions underlying the graph model are reviewed, and the techniques for analysis and interpretation are discussed. The modeling and analysis of a case study, an international trade negotiation concerning the export of Canadian softwood lumber to the United States, are used to demonstrate the practical application of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution as a negotiation support tool. The modeling and analysis is carried out using the GMCR software system. The ability of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution to provide insights and advice to negotiators is emphasized.

Multinationals and the investment provisions of the nafta

The foreign direct investment (FDI) provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are examined in light of a worldwide trend toward liberalization of the policy environment for multinational firms. We first examine the rationale for entering into international investment negotiations from the perspective of the three signatories—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—and then analyze the accomplishments embodied in the resulting investment provisions. We also briefly address areas where these provisions could be strengthened and that may be on the agenda of future international trade and investment negotiations, whether in other fora or during negotiations involving accession of new member states to the NAFTA.

Trade and Development Report, 1993

The Trade and Development Report of 1992 had predicted that without a strong boost to global demand the world economy v.�ould continue to stagnate. So it has. Belying almost all other official forecasts, the North has failed to recover. As a result, commodity prices are falling yet again, intensifying poverty in the South, and the unemployed are multiplying, intensifying poverty in the North. Joblessness is now not only the prime issue in domestic politics: by providing humus for protectionist sentiments and xenophobia, it is also forcing itself onto the international agenda. The tide of market-oriented reform has continued to flow strongly in developing countries and the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe. In Asia, the fast-growing economies, which had managed to steer clear of the turbulence of debt and policy shocks, have continued ahead at full steam. Thanks to reform, Latin America has been showered with finance. In Africa, the winds of change have turned into a gale, but the economies are still in the doldrums. In the transition economies of Europe, the worst is over in some hut not in others. International financial flows have been bringing many benefits but also problems. Exchange rates have been under severe strain, and international trade negotiations have been teetering bern�een openness and protectionism. The new era after the Cold War should not be allowed to become one of economic conflict. Governments acknowledge the need for cooperation, but the real challenge remains. It is to translate the aspiration for harmony into practice-and do so in a way that will advance development and push back poverty The right approach is to marry boldness with realism. Without boldness structures will not change, but unless policies are tempered with realism there will be costly excesses. Boldness is also required to clear the debt overhang, which continues to bear down on 1nany developing countries. And unless there is boldness, too, infighting global deflation, the problems of the world economy will further multiply, and instability will overwhelm confidence.

Canada's Environmental Review of the North American Free Trade Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the first trade agreement and the first major government initiative to undergo an environmental review, as required by Canada's Green Plan. The environmental review analyzed the potential environmental effects of Canada's participation in NAFTA, setting precedents that will influence how environmental concerns are addressed in future international trade negotiations. Canada's review is composed of four broad elements: a study of the implications of the NAFTA's trade‐related environmental provisions, a screening of the potential environmental impact of increased trade on Canada, an appraisal of the possibility that investment might migrate to areas characterized by different environmental practices, and an examination of mechanisms to ensure that the relationship between trade and the environment will continue to be addressed during the implementation of the agreement. The review committee concluded that NAFTA should not have a significant effect on Canada's environment.

Research and technological development programs of the European communities: Transfer of information and results

The article outlines information transfer exploitation aspects within the framework of the R&DT policy of the European Communities (EC) and briefly presents EC action in the fields of transnational technology transfer and innovation support. After describing the development of EC involvement in R&DT and the present context of the Community R&DT Framework Programs, the article focuses on the basic conditions governing diffusion and exploitation of results obtained within these programs and presents the main EC instrument designed to support these aims, i.e., the “horizontal” VALUE programme (Valorization and Utilization for Europe). This program offers assistance to all Community R&DT contractors (in fields such as industrial property rights protection, market studies, exploitation promotion, and prototype development) and comprises an electronic information service (CORDIS). The VALUE follow-up program adopted in April 1992 adds some new activities (establishment of a relay center network, investigation into the research/ society and research/scientific community interfaces). Building on the fact that competitivity, though based on technological progress, not only depends on the availability and exploitation of research results, but also on the wider application of already proven innovative technologies, the article then briefly presents the SPRINT Program (Strategic Programme for Innovation and Technology Transfer) whose main objectives are to improve the innovative capacity of European (small and medium) enterprises and to facilitate technology transfer. The concluding outlook contains some remarks on the role of the IP matters in international trade negotiations.

The Cairns Group and the Uruguay Round of International Trade Negotiations

AbstractThe Cairns Group was formed out of frustration among comparatively efficient agricultural exporting countries about a series of changes in the conduct of world agricultural trade over which they, as individual countries, could have no influence. They are collectively significant as producers of agricultural products, with more value added in agriculture than either the EC or the United States, and as agricultural exporters, with more such exports than the EC and the United States combined. Their cohesion, stemming from the reduction in their net agricultural export earnings by more than half as a consequence of protection in industrial countries, and their unique combination of industrial and developing countries has given them an extraordinary influence over the conduct of the Uruguay Round. This article quantifies their collective interest in agricultural trade reform, reviews their contributions to the Round and examines their interest in the reforms which are most likely to emerge from it.

Conflict in Trade Policy: The Role of the Congress and the Provinces in Negotiating and Implementing the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

The provincial role in trade policy has until recently been limited, but the increasing impact of international trade negotiations on domestic policy issues has come into direct conflict with provincial jurisdiction. At the same time, Congress has handed some of its constitutional authority over trade matters to the executive branch through the granting of 'fast track negotiating authority. The paper argues that, as a result of these developments, the functional roles that Congress and the provinces played in the negotiation of the FTA were not significantly different in the two countries. However, in the implementation of the trade agreement, roles again became clearly defined by constitutional jurisdiction.

ON THE NEGLECT OF DYNAMICS, RISK AND MARKET INSULATION IN THE ANALYSIS OF URUGUAY ROUND FOOD TRADE REFORMS*

The substantial investment in models of international food markets prior to and during the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations has been a mixed blessing so far as the prospects for reform are concerned. At worst, results from these models have misled the negotiations because they have most often ignored a primary concern lending domestic political support to food market interventions, namely the avoidance of risks borne of dependence on international markets. In this paper the reasons for market insulating policies are reviewed and their links with protection elucidated. Some errors that have stemmed from the application of 'standard' but inappropriate models are noted. Finally, the implications of extending the standard method to include dynamic behaviour and market insulating policies are examined.

In the Balance: The Uruguay Round of International Trade Negotiations

The removal of barriers to international trade has been a powerful stimulus to economic growth in the post-war period. World trade has grown on average 2 per cent faster than GNP throughout this period. Countries which deliberately sought to make themselves competitive externally have grown much faster than countries which relied on their domestic market. By contrast, communist countries, where the system discouraged external trade, have fallen steadily behind. The consequence for most countries has been a steadily growing share of their economy which is exposed to international competition.

The challenge of free trade

The Uruguay Round is the most important multilateral trade negotiation since the GATT was founded over 40 years ago. Alan Oxley provides an insider's view of the back rooms of international trade negotiations and reveals the full drama of those negotiations. He demonstrates the renewed influence and international authority of GATT. He also shows the importance of a successful outcome for the future of the world's economy and argues for the necessity of pursuing further trade liberalization. Success is essential: to develop market economies in Eastern Europe; to prevent the formation of trade blocs; to end agricultural trade wars; to encourage efficiency in international business; to maximise future global growth; and to encompass the revolutionary impact of trade in services. This is designed as a complete, jargon-free guide to GATT and the Uruguay Round, aimed especially at the business executive, analyst, diplomat, academic and student who wants to understand international trade issues.