International Trade Research Articles

Competitiveness of Indonesian Plantation Organic Coffee in the United States Market

Indonesia is the world's fourth-largest coffee producer, known for its distinctive varieties such as Mandailing, Gayo, Kintamani, and Toraja. Amidst the growing global demand for organic products, especially in the United States market, Indonesian organic coffee holds significant potential to enhance its competitiveness. This study aims to analyze the opportunities and challenges of the competitiveness of Indonesian organic coffee in the U.S. market. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed using secondary data analysis derived from official reports, international trade statistics, and recent academic publications. The findings reveal notable opportunities, including U.S. consumers’ preference for organic, fair trade, and sustainable products. However, the sector faces substantial challenges, such as competition from other coffee-producing countries, non-tariff barriers like stringent organic certification requirements, producer fragmentation, and climate-related impacts. Strengthening Indonesia's position in the premium market requires a comprehensive strategy involving the enhancement of farmers’ institutional capacity, development of structured cultivation systems, and collaboration among key stakeholders.

The Influence of Cloud Computing Services in GATS’ Enforcement

Cloud computing facilities have a cross-border scope that might set off international issues regarding different areas of law. As cloud computing raised from the idea of replacing the physical for the virtual, we must remain that every software needs hardware to operate, whether the second is imperceptible for cloud services’ users, and this makes the cloud of cross border nature. Cloud computing has tangible effects on enterprises and economics, and its characteristics enforce internet usage globally. Explicitly, this article will focus on the influence of cloud computing in an international trade system held by Word Trade Organization (WTO), and how it enforces the international trade system, specifically on the General Agreement of Trade and Services (GATS). This paper main objective is to understand how can cloud computing lead to the enforcement of the international trade system, specifically on the GATS. To address this question, the paper follows an economic analysis of the law with qualitative method of literature and case law analysis, particularly of WTO Us Gamblin. The key conclusion is that the cross-border nature of cloud computing services requires to create a new category in the WTO GATS.

Каталог народов татарского мира Иоанна Султанийского начала XV века

The purpose of this article is to study the Tatar World’s Peoples Catalog in the Manuscript Versions of “Libellus de notitia orbis” by Iohannes of Sulthanyeh in the early 15th century.Research materials: The “Libellus de notitia orbis” by Iohannes of Sulthanyeh in 1404, preserved in manuscripts of the Austrian National Library in Vienna (ÖNB Cod. Ser. n. 39086), the University Library of Basel (BUB EIII17; BUB AV25), the University Library of Graz (GUB Ms. 1221), the Monastery Library of Klostenburg (KSB Cod. 1099), the University Library of Leipzig (LUB Ms. 1225), and the Diocesan Library of St. Pölten (SPDB Hs. 63). For a critical understanding of the historical and geographical context of the “Book”, as well as for the identification of its sources, the works of biblical, patristic, and medieval chronicle traditions were used, along with the research capabilities of the Patrologia Latina database.Results and novelty of the research: In “Libellus de notitia orbis” by the Dominican monk, Johannes, from the 1404, he laid out the Tatar World’s Peoples Catalog, which included fifteen demonyms into three continents of the Old World, and was divided into two groups – the ancient Biblical and new peoples. Among the ancient Biblical peoples, the Persians and Arabs stood out for their dominance across the three continents. The Persians held this position in Antiquity, while the Arabs rose to prominence a millennium later. In the modern era – as seen by Iohannes of Sulthaniyeh – their place was taken by the Tatars. If the Persians achieved the Unity of the World by the a despotic organization of power, and the Arabs sought the same by adoption of Islam, the Tatars provided a link between scattered parts of the vast Tatars World through a universal language; it was the Tatars’ language that would be used the population of all countries which had been conquered by them. The Tatar Language was indispensable for Europeans, if they were going to do big international trade on the Great Silk Road. In addition to known Western sources of the “Libellus”, namely the “Etimologiae” by Issidorus Hispalensis (died 636), “De imago mundi” by Honorius Augustodunensis (died 1156), “Historia scholastica” by Petrus Comestor (died 1178), “La flor de estoires de la Terre d’Orient” by Haiton (died 1310), and “Epistola Samuelis marroccani” by Alfonsus Bonihomini (died 1353) are demonstrably used in the address of Iohannes of Sulthanyeh to “Ta’rikh-i Sistan” from the 11th century with an addition up to 1325, to the “Chronicle” by Michael the Syrian (died 1199), to “Historia Tartarorum” by De Bridia from 1245, and to “Le Devisement dou monde” by Marco Polo from 1284. Some of the first information about the Khorezmians, Kurds, Turkmens, Chagatais in Western sources were based on the archbishop of Suthanyeh’s own observations, and this expanded data on Tats – not only Iranian ones, but also Caucasian and Crimean.

The role of ICT in shaping international trade dynamics: a G20 perspective

This research examines the influence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on economic expansion and commerce within G20 nations. Findings reveal that the digital revolution and advancements in artificial intelligence have significantly bolstered the global digital economy, fostering enhanced productivity, innovation, and trade. Utilizing panel data analysis, the study demonstrates that progress in ICT technology contributed approximately 0.33% to economic growth. Additionally, it facilitated an expansion of about 0.12% in product trade and 0.14% in service trade. The research also uncovered a “Diminishing Marginal Returns of ICT on Trade” effect, where trade volume increases with ICT development, but at a decelerating rate over time. To maximize trade growth potential, the study proposes increased governmental investment in ICT technology development and innovation, coupled with the establishment of digital trade standards. These measures could position digital trade as a catalyst for future economic expansion. While the research acknowledges limitations such as a restricted sample size and reliance on panel data, its conclusions offer valuable insights for policymakers and enterprises in emerging economies. First published online 2 July 2025

Enhancing efficiency and sustainability in shipbuilding: insights from lean implementation and challenges

Abstract The maritime industry has a very representative weight in the world economy, with 80% of the volume of international trade of goods transported by sea, which makes shipbuilding a relevant strategic industry. However, this industry faces important challenges not only in terms of competitiveness, but also due to its characteristics, namely very high cycle times and engineering-to-order production systems. The implementation of lean in industry has allowed the reduction of waste and costs, increased efficiency, and productivity. Thus, the implementation of these principles can contribute in a very significant way to help this industry to face the numerous challenges. Although lean principles and tools are already being applied in the shipbuilding industry, there is an absence of systematic characterisation of these practices in the literature, as well as the advantages and barriers to their application. Therefore, through a systematic literature review, the aim of this article was to compile and categorise the different lean practices, the benefits of their implementation, as well as the main adoption factors and barriers faced when implementing them in the maritime construction industry. Furthermore, a conceptual framework is also proposed with the purpose of facilitating the development of lean application in the shipbuilding industry. The implications of applying lean tools in shipbuilding for each dimension of sustainability are also analysed. The results of the review show that the implementation of lean in the context of maritime construction has been effective, with the main benefits being a reduction in the production cycle time, a reduction in costs, better utilisation of space and a reduction in the distances travelled by operators and parts, and an increase in productivity. The most frequently implemented tools are Value Stream Mapping, Takt Time, Kaizen, Kanban, and Just in Time. The barriers associated with human factors and the intrinsic characteristics of shipbuilding were predominant as obstacles to implementing lean. Future research in this industry is essential, particularly in quantifying the benefits and identifying different strategies for implementing these initiatives.

A Look Offshore: Unpacking the Routes of Misinvoicing in International Trade

Abstract Drawing upon evidence and insights from empirical studies in related fields, the paper aims to explore whether misinvoicing in international trade is reflected in cross-border bank accounts reported by offshore financial centers. Across various model specifications and a diverse array of datasets, this study finds no compelling evidence supporting this association. While the estimated relationships are generally positive, statistical significance varies across different misinvoicing proxies, all of which are subject to various data and methodological limitations. Given these important data constraints, further research is needed to better understand the potential links between offshore financial centers, international trade misinvoicing, and illicit financing.

Crayfish pet trade as a pathway for the introduction of known and novel viruses.

Crayfish pet trade as a pathway for the introduction of known and novel viruses.

World Bank assessment: evaluation of the international trade environment

PurposeThe paper aims to conduct an in-depth exploration and evaluation of the business environment in the Pilot Free Trade Zone of Z Province. The goal is to provide a comprehensive and objective analytical framework and empirical basis for policymakers, academia and business practitioners. By optimizing the business environment, the paper seeks to enhance the sense of gain, activity and development quality of market entities, thereby promoting high-level opening-up and high-quality development of the regional economy.Design/methodology/approachThe research employs a multifaceted approach to data collection, including questionnaire surveys, face-to-face interviews and computer-aided telephone surveys (CATI) to ensure data representativeness and comprehensiveness. For data analysis, the paper utilizes factor analysis, a statistical technique for dimensionality reduction that extracts major factors from multiple related variables, reflecting most of the original data’s information. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) are conducted to ensure a scientific and rational evaluation model.FindingsThe empirical research reveals that the overall score of the Pilot Free Trade Zone of Z Province’s business environment evaluation for 2023 is 89.15 points, reflecting performance in enterprise trade efficiency, regulatory quality and public service quality. Particularly, the enterprise trade efficiency dimension scored 90.35 points, indicating significant improvements in enterprise efficiency. The study also identifies key dimensions for business environment evaluation, such as public policy supply, institutional transaction costs, market regulatory behavior and infrastructure services.Practical implicationsThrough evaluation to promote reform and optimization, the business environment in free trade zones throughout the province is optimized and improved.Originality/valueThe paper’s originality and value lie in its systematic approach to assessing the business environment, its use of advanced statistical methods to analyze complex data and its provision of actionable insights for stakeholders. They also emphasize the importance of institutional quality, digital governance and international trade in the business environment, providing a scientific basis for policy formulation. Lastly, the study identifies key issues and challenges in optimizing the business environment, providing decision-makers with references for promoting sustainable and healthy economic development in the Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Bordering along the supply chain: The border as place or political construction?

This paper complicates our understanding of borders as lines of separation instead analyzing their complex forms and uses for the reproduction and accumulation of capital; division, surveillance, and disciplining of the working class; and the mitigation of costs along the supply chain. The paper focuses on the mobility regimes that cross the Otay Mesa port of entry between San Diego and Tijuana in particular migrant labor and supply chains. The paper gives analytic attention to how the cross-border supply chains and labor markets are politically constructed as well as how the geography of the border is a malleable concept that can be changed to facilitate the accumulation of capital. It is argued that the border is sometimes a line of demarcation seen on a map while other times the border geographically shifts to mitigate costs associated with international trade.

Spatial Patterns of Cereal Imports and Food Security in Africa: A Gravity Model Approach

This research analyzes the relationship between international trade fragmentation and food security in Africa, focusing on cereal imports between 2010 and 2021. Using a gravity model, it examines African countries' trade with major global exporters, including France, Germany, the United States, China, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. The findings reveal that location, economic status, and institutional factors influence the availability and stability of cereal imports. Geographical distance, trade blocs, and economic capacity are significant determinants of trade volumes, while regional integration plays a crucial role in diversifying food supply sources. However, reliance on a limited number of suppliers makes African food systems vulnerable to political and economic crises. The United States, Russia, and Ukraine exert a significant influence on African cereal imports, complicating horizontal trade relations and threatening food security during global disruptions. The study recommends strengthening intra-African cooperation, improving trade infrastructure, and enhancing local production capacities to ensure a stable food supply and mitigate risks associated with an increasingly fragmented and uncertain global trade system.

The impact of artificial intelligence on the sustainability of international trade enterprises

The impact of artificial intelligence on the sustainability of international trade enterprises

Detection and characterization of white spot syndrome virus in imported blue crayfish (Procambarus alleni) from the ornamental trade.

Detection and characterization of white spot syndrome virus in imported blue crayfish (Procambarus alleni) from the ornamental trade.

An Optimal Transport approach to model the community structure of the International Trade Network

An Optimal Transport approach to model the community structure of the International Trade Network

A comment on “Quality standards, industry structure, and welfare in a global economy”

Abstract Gaigné and Larue (American Journal of Agricultural Economics 98:1432–1449) examined the welfare implications of quality regulations within an international trade context, employing a general‐equilibrium framework. Their study uses a CES (Constant Elasticity of Substitution) model and finds that stricter public standards might improve welfare. However, this conclusion was actually derived from a partial‐equilibrium analysis. This note conducts a thorough general‐equilibrium analysis and demonstrates that their anticipated outcome does not hold within their CES framework.

Indonesia’s Economic Diplomacy: The Challenges by the U.S. Incentive Reduction Act and China’s Nickel Domination

Indonesia, as the world’s largest producer of nickel, faces significant challenges in leveraging its resources for economic development. These challenges are compounded by external pressures, including the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and internal issues related to China’s dominance in Indonesia’s nickel sector. Despite its vast nickel reserves, Indonesia is excluded from the green incentives provided under the IRA, which threatens to undermine its strategic position in the global nickel supply chain. The study seeks to understand the underlying factors driving this exclusion and the impacts of China’s dominance on Indonesia’s nickel industry. This research employs an explanatory qualitative approach, drawing from literature reviews and interviews with an industry expert. The methodology focuses on interpreting the interrelations between international trade policies, environmental sustainability, and Indonesia’s domestic challenges. The study identifies three key factors behind Indonesia’s exclusion from the IRA: the lack of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, environmental concerns over Indonesia’s mining practices, and the significant presence of Chinese companies in Indonesia’s nickel sector. China’s dominance has also led to environmental degradation, reduced domestic industrial competitiveness, and economic dependency. To address these challenges, the research proposes that Indonesia negotiate an FTA with the United States. Such an agreement would create a framework for accessing IRA incentives, strengthen Indonesia’s economic sovereignty, and mitigate China’s dominance. While the negotiation process will require strong political will and careful diplomacy, it presents a viable path for Indonesia to secure its economic and geopolitical interests.

Optimizing Geographical Indication Protection: Comparative Analysis and Lessons for Indonesia's Legal Framework

Geographical Indications (GIs) play a crucial role in safeguarding the unique qualities and reputation of products closely tied to their place of origin, extending beyond mere economic considerations to encompass cultural preservation and the maintenance of traditional production methods. Indonesia's current legal framework faces significant challenges and requires review and potential reconstruction to optimize the system and address complex issues such as the potential conflict between exclusive GI rights and trademark rights. This study employs an empirical juridical approach, utilizing field research based on interviews with key informants, and relies on both primary and secondary materials as its foundational sources. The results show that GIs function as powerful tools for product differentiation in both domestic and global markets, helping to highlight the uniqueness of a product, support local economic sustainability, and provide legal protection for a product's authenticity and reputation. However, Indonesia's efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency and strengthen its GI portfolio are hindered by the complex registration process, lack of legal certainty, and low legal awareness among local communities. Legal reform should aim to align with the socio-economic realities of communities involved in GI production, enabling GIs to serve as both legal identifiers of origin and economic tools that boost the market value of local products in domestic and international trade.

The Impact of the Turkish Waqf System on International Trade and Logistics: A Network Theory Perspective

While the popularity of impact investing is increasing day by day in the world, it is stated that the reason for this is the sociocultural structure. Sociocultural structure is valuable in societies to focus on long-term permanent results instead of short-term results. The most important difference of impact investments from other investments that provide financial return is the importance of the social return of the investment. The models currently proposed by the UK-based Impact Investing Institute started hundreds of years ago with the Turkish waqfs initiated by Abdülkerim Satuk Buğra Khan in the 930s, and continued with the first waqf established in Anatolia in 1048, 23 years before 1071, to manage the food supply chain on the instructions of Tuğrul Bey, the uncle of Sultan Muhammad Alp Arslan. Baghdad, Amul, Basra, Balkh, Herat, Isfahan, Mosul, Nishapur, founded by the Seljuk vizier Nizamül Mülk in 1091, are exemplified by private waqf universities that do not receive state support but provide full scholarships to their students with their income and publish their works. Turkish foundations are called waqf. Although the concept of waqf is only known as a charitable institution today, in the history of Turkish waqf system, it is seen as institutions working with business models that take into account the needs of the society by creating an income model that will ensure institutional sustainability. In our study, caravanserai waqfs that develop the logistics infrastructure that enables the expansion of international trade are analysed through network theory. In our study, content analysis was determined as a method based on systematic literature. The formation of an international logistics network by integrating logistics networks with each other continues today, as in the one belt one road project. While today there is the possibility of access by rail, air or road according to cost and time, the concept of time is emphasised by pointing out that there was only the possibility of road during the period of Turkish caravanserais. Our study, which draws attention to the fact that impact investments, with the new name of the Turkish waqf model, have been around for centuries, maintains its importance with network trade relations in the globalising world.

International Trade and Economic Growth in an Oil-Dependent Country: Case of Nigeria

This paper examines the effect of disaggregated international trade on the economic growth of Nigeria. The data and specified model were analysed with Autoregressive Distributed Lag and Toda-Yamamoto techniques. It was found that both non-oil and oil exports enhance economic growth. However, non-oil and oil imports impede economic growth. Furthermore, overall causality results revealed that while non-oil and oil exports and non-oil imports had bi-directional causality with economic growth, nonoil imports did not have causality with economic growth. Consequently, the government should prioritise export-led policy to facilitate economic performance in Nigeria. Findings emphasised the need for the diversification of the economy for higher economic growth and sustainability inthe long run. The paper enriches the literature on the relationship between international trade and economic growth in Nigeria by adequately disaggregating trade components to reflect the economic structure of the Nigerian economy. Also, it brings new empirical findings on the trade-growth relationship in an oil-dependent developing country. This study can provide a theoretical framework for research in countries that oil dependent.

Economic Resilience under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Supply Chain Agreement: Treading between Geoeconomic Ambitions and World Trade Organization Compatibility?

Abstract The resilience of international supply chains is increasingly becoming a policy objective within international trade law making. Unilaterally, States have resorted to a myriad of trade tools to achieve this objective, including subsidizing domestic industries, facilitating critical minerals, and imposing tariffs on dominant supplying States to encourage supply diversification. In this context, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity Supply Chain Agreement is the first major international trade agreement primarily aimed at achieving regional supply chain resilience. This Research Note explores the WTO compatibility of the economic interventions that underpin the Supply Chain Agreement’s ‘managed trade’ approach to supply chain resilience. First, it outlines the firm-centred governance approach that is central to supply chain management under the Supply Chain Agreement. Second, it explores the likely challenges and justifications of the envisaged interventions under GATT 1994 and Agreement on Safeguards. Finally, it reflects on the potential role of the WTO to shape cooperative supply chain governance interventions.

THE INFLUENCE OF COLONIALISM ON THE COASTAL COMMUNITIES IN PARIAMAN THROUGH ADILLA'S NAKHODA PESISIR BARAT

This research aims to examine the impact of colonialism's influence on the lives of the coastal society of Pariaman, West Sumatra, focusing on cultural, social and economic interactions. The research's foundation is Ivan Adilla's short novel Nakhoda Pesisir Barat, which recounts the late 19th-century life of a merchant named Muhammad Saleh under Dutch colonial rule. Examining how colonialism affected trade, education, and local identity, this research used a qualitative methodology with a historical perspective and narrative analysis, drawing on the theories of Frantz Fanon and Immanuel Wallerstein. The results of the research show that colonialism brought changes to education and economic dynamics, particularly in international trade and social significantly. However, colonial dominance also produced subordinate systems that had an impact on the psychology and identity of the coastal inhabitants of Pariaman.