Rules Of Origin Research Articles

What motivates Vietnamese enterprises to upgrade in global value chains? Closing the intention-behavior gap

PurposeUpgrading in global value chains (GVCs) has become a crucial strategy for enhancing competitive advantage and attaining higher profitability, especially among firms in developing countries. Drawn from the sociological approach, this study treats GVC upgrading as an entrepreneurial act and examines factors affecting firms' intention to move up in their chains based on the theory of planned behavior. The authors also further test the moderating effects of firms' knowledge about rule of origin and governmental supports on the intention-behavior gap.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews with eight Vietnamese business managers were implemented to support the development of hypotheses and measurement scales. Afterwards, the authors conducted a survey on decision-makers of 402 Vietnamese firms which currently have export-import activities to collect quantitative data for testing the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that both attitudes, behavioral control and social norms have significant positive impacts on the intention to upgrade in GVCs. In turn, such intention could further activate actual behaviors to move up in their chains. However, those who have better knowledge about rule of origin and receive governmental supports either in terms of finance, credit or technology have a higher probability of demonstrating actual behavior to upgrade in GVCs once their intentions are formed than those who do not.Practical implicationsThis research provides valuable implications for policymakers in accelerating firms' actions to upgrade within their chains, hence, actively enhancing not only organizational performance but also significantly contributes to the national economic development.Originality/valueWhile most of the previous studies examine the preconditions for firms to participate and upgrade in their GVCs, there is limited attention on determinants of firms' own intention and actual behavior to upgrade in their chains once they have participated in the GVC. Specifically, this research not only contributes to the existing knowledge regarding factors affecting firms' intention to upgrade in their chains but also closes the gap between the intention and the actual GVC upgrading behavior.

An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Uncertainty in Rules of Origin on Export Performance of Companies

본 연구는 한국의 특혜무역협정을 활용하여 국제무역거래를 하고 있는 수출입기업과 관세 및 무역전문가를 대상으로 원산지규정의 불확실한 특성이 특혜관세 활용과 더불어 기업의 수출성과에 미치는 영향에 대해 분석하고 검증함으로써 특혜관세 활용을 통한 기업의 수출성과를 제고시키고 원산지 적용으로 인한 위험을 대비할 수 있도록 시사점을 제공하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 또한 항공운송을 함께 활용하고 있는 국내 수출입기업 등의 실무자를 대상으로 확보한 220부의 설문조사 자료를 바탕으로 Process macro 매개효과 등의 실증분석을 진행하였다. 실증분석 결과 불확실성은 FTA 특혜관세 활용에 유의미한 영향을 미치고, FTA는 기업의 수출성과에 유의미한 영향을 주어 FTA와 기업수출성과 간의 매개효과를 확인하였다. 그리고 불확실성에서 기업수출성과 간의 총 효과에서는 매개변수 FTA가 투입되면서 불확실성에서 기업수출성과 간 경로의 직접효과가 무의미하여 매개효과는 없었으나, 부트스트랩을 활용한 검증결과에서 상한 값과 하한 값 사이에 0이 존재하지 않아 간접효과는 확인되었다.

The Economics of Conflict and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific: RCEP, CPTPP and the US-China Trade War

The Economics of Conflict and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific: RCEP, CPTPP and the US-China Trade War-Computable General Equilibrium, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Free Trade Agreement, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Rules of Origin

Impact of FTA on Trade in ASEAN and Australia Using Customs Level Data

This study examines the impact of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) on Australian trade with a particular focus on imports from ASEAN member countries to Australia. We examine the AANZFTA’s utilization by ten ASEAN countries at the six-digit trade classification level from 2012 to 2016 using Australian customs data. We implement Ando and Urata’s (2018) and Hayakawa et al.’s (2014) framework of free trade agreement (FTA) utilization based on preferential tariff margins. We also account for overlapping FTAs that are likely to impact the AANZFTA’s utilization. The results indicate that preferential tariff margins positively impact FTA utilization. However, the results also indicate that the AANZFTA’s utilization rate across ASEAN countries is low relative to Australia’s bilateral FTAs with Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. We also find evidence that co-sharing rules of origin positively impact FTA utilization.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) is a free trade agreement signed in accordance with WTO rules. It consists of 12 chapters and many annexes, which contain provisions on the free movement of goods, investments, payments, rules of origin, common institutions, dispute resolution procedure, cooperation in the field of transport, environmental protection, combating terrorism and crime. In view of the UK’s exit from the EU, it is important to analyse, what is most interesting in the Agreement and what it does not contain, e.g. provisions on the free movement of workers, students, financial services, the right of citizens to work, the common trade, agricultural policy, regional policy, financing of the EU budget. Because the Agreement limits the existing freedoms and scope of mutual cooperation, the aim of this Article is to analyse not only its provisions, but also the consequences that it will bring in terms of benefits and costs for the UK and the EU. The author uses a well-known non-Europe methodology in his research, taking into account the fact that things, which are now benefits of integration, could prove to be the costs of disintegration tomorrow. The costs and benefits of the Agreement should be assessed through the lens of the current costs and benefits of the UK’s membership of the EU. From this point of view, the implementation of the Agreement will bring higher alternative costs in the form of lower trade in goods and services, capital migration and workers in comparison with their volume, that can be achieved in the EU. The conducted analysis demonstrates that these costs will not be compensated by the savings from the UK contribution to the EU budget.

Tariff elimination versus tax avoidance: free trade agreements and transfer pricing

We explore the new roles of rules of origin (ROO) when multinational enterprises (MNEs) manipulate their transfer prices to avoid a high corporate tax. The ROO under a free trade agreement (FTA) require exporters to identify the origin of exports to be eligible for a preferential tariff rate. We find that a value-added criterion of ROO restricts abusive transfer pricing by MNEs. Interestingly, an FTA with ROO can induce MNEs to shift profits from a low- to high-tax country. Because the ROO augment tax revenues inside FTA countries, they can transform a welfare-reducing FTA into a welfare-improving one.

Impact of the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Free-Trade Agreement on the Automotive Sector in Mexico

The article aims to analyze the changes in the free trade agreement of the United States, Mexico, and Canada (USMCA) for the automotive industry, explaining the origin and impact on light vehicle production in Mexico. The new rules affect the drivers of location decisions for companies and positively influence the growth rate of the automotive industry in the region, but unevenly for the countries and companies involved. The regional content value of each automobile assembled in Mexico and sold in the United States in 2020 is analyzed to understand the dynamics of competition and protectionism. There is a strategy to increase automotive manufacturing in the region, especially in the United States. The agreement promotes import substitution, increasing the regionalization of the supply chain. German and Asian carmakers producing in Mexico will need more adjustments.
 
 Keywords: Automotive Industry, USMCA, industry relocation, rules of origin, protectionism.

A Study on the Effects of Restrictiveness of FTA Rule of Origin on the Spaghetti Bowl Effects and Trade Diversion Effects Between FTA Member Countries

Purpose - This paper analyzes the possibility of strategic behavior of the importing country which attempts to facilitate the restrictiveness of rule of origin to the member countries of FTA equally or discriminately. Design/Methodology/Approach - For this purpose, we introduced the 2-stages game which described the importing country’s strategic behavior for maximizing social welfare, and by using the backward induction approach, we attempt to solve the Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium(SPNE). Findings - As a result of this study, it was found that the multilateral FTA system in which importing countries facilitate the more restrictive rules of origin to the member countries of FTA equally will help encourage the free trade between intra-FTA members and make the international production system more efficient. However, if the importing country’s government seeks to utilize the FTA rules of origin strategically, none of them will have the incentive to voluntarily facilitate the multilateral FTA system to all the exporting countries because they suffer a decrease in social welfare such as a decrease in tariff revenue. Research Implications - These findings suggest that to applying a multilateral FTA system that facilitates the same and equal restrictiveness of rule of origin to all the member countries, it is necessary to develop a reasonable incentive that could attract the importing country to the multilateral FTA system.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Text Overview and Outlook for Entry into Force

At the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit held on November 15, 2020, Korea, China, Japan, Australia, New Zea-land and 10 ASEAN countries concluded and formally signed the agreement. The RCEP is called a “mega-FTA” because of its large scale involving 15 countries in Asia and the Oceania region, with the economies of RCEP-participating countries accounting for about 30% of the world's production, trade and population.The RCEP agreement includes chapters on trade in goods and services, investment, SPS, TBT, e-commerce, intellectual property rights, as well as SMEs and cooperation, covering the entire economic relationship. Especially, the RCEP rules of origin integrate the various origin standards into a unified system, and have regional cumulative rules so that goods and materials of a member country which are used in the production of another good or material is considered as worked or processed in the region). In addition, a self-certification of origin by exporters or producers was introduced. Improvement of these origin rules is expected to increase the utilization of RCEP by companies and promote the formation of regional value chains. The e-commerce chapter can be evaluated to reflect most recent trade rules, including provisions for promoting cross-border e-commerce, such as paperless trade, electronic authentication, and trade facilitation using electronic signatures, as well as provisions related to the location of computer facilities and cross-border transfer of data. In addition, the intellectual property chapter includes provisions on the protection of IP rights covering copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, and patents.The biggest significance of the RCEP agreement is that the world's largest mega-FTA was concluded amid the spread of new protectionism, and in the midst of the global economic slump due to COVID-19, thus providing an opportunity for economic recovery through regional free trade and expansion of investment. Korea is expected to be able to expand new markets and strengthen economic cooperation in the ASEAN region through the RCEP.As for the entry into force of the RCEP, if at least six of the ASEAN signatories and three or more of the non-ASEAN signatories complete the domestic ratification procedure, the ratification agreement between the countries will enter into force 60 days later. So far, Singapore, China, Thailand and Japan have completed ratification. After completing the impact assessment by June, Korea is expected to be able to ratify it by the end of 2021 or early 2022.

Who Uses the EU's Free Trade Agreements? A Transaction-Level Analysis of the EU–South Korea FTA

AbstractThe tariff preferences in FTAs do not apply automatically to all imports. Instead, importers can request to use the tariff preferences, but must then show that the imported goods fulfil the formal requirements (e.g. rules of origin) of the FTA. This is costly, which is a likely reason why tariff preferences are not always used. This research note examines preference utilization under the FTA between the EU and South Korea, which was formally ratified in 2015 (but had been provisionally applied from 2011). We use firm and transaction level data for Swedish imports from South Korea during November 2016 to answer the question ‘Who uses the EU's FTAs?’ With information on firm size, product category, import mode (direct imports or customs warehousing), preference margin, potential duty savings, and transaction size, we provide a detailed picture of when firms choose to utilize the tariff preferences. The results suggest that the differences across importers are not primarily related to firm size, as is sometimes suggested in extant literature. We also find that it is the size of the import transaction rather than the size of the preference margin that determines preference utilization.

ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACTS OF ICMS ON THE PRODUCTIVE CHAINS OF SMALL BRAZILIAN STATES - THE CASE OF GOIÁS AND ITS CLUSTERS

This article proposes to analyze the production chains of Brazilian states regarding the taxation of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) levied on Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) by the final consumer, who is not the taxpayer, through of interstate operation. Therefore, this is a comparative study of the rules and incidence of this tax at the national and international level, as well as the conflicts generated by federative entities, forming a type of "fiscal war", as a result of the application of the "origin principle", which probably no longer serve Federation purposes. The analysis addresses the importance of this new form of commerce, from the description of the evolution of e-commerce, as well as the delimitation of advances and perspectives for this type of commerce. Special focus is given to the economic impact due to the current tax collection model on consumer states, notably the state of Goiás, showing its influence on the deepening of regional inequalities. What was found was that the globalization process, including technological innovation and the consequent modernization of the economy, imposed new challenges and an urgent need for constitutional and legal adjustment of the National Tax System. This is evident in the STF decision regarding the grounds used in the declaration of unconstitutionality of the Protocol of ICMS 21/2011 that deals with the matter, however, some of them deserve a deep reflection. The maintenance of this situation in fact favors the fiscal imbalance of the states and compromises the federative pact for a possible violation of constitutional principles. The new Constitutional Amendment (EC 87/2015) may have been the first step in a necessary transition from the rule of origin to the rule of destination, advocated by this thesis.

The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area

In 2018, 44 members of the African Union agreed to join a continental free-trade zone that, once operational, would create the largest market for goods in the world. Trading commenced under the agreement in 2021 with all but one African country agreeing (in principle) to participate. So far, however, few goods have changed hands under the terms of the agreement. Implementation problems include the fact that many states have not yet ratified the agreement, that a consensus has not been reached regarding customs documentation and rules of origin, that the quality of road and rail infrastructure on the continent is poor, and that non-tariff barriers to trade still persist.

Iraq—Technical Assistance Report-Customs Valuation, Rules of Origin and Tariff Classification of Goods

Iraq—Technical Assistance Report-Customs Valuation, Rules of Origin and Tariff Classification of Goods

Global supply chains, trade agreements and rules of origin

AbstractFree Trade Agreements (FTAs) usually come with restrictions on the use of intermediate inputs in order for final goods to qualify for free trade. I focus on Rules of Origin (RoO), which limit expenses on nonmember country's intermediate inputs. In a three‐country FTA formation game, I introduce international trade in intermediate inputs and RoO restrictions. In the case of symmetric countries, I show that as countries become more involved in global supply chains, measured by their input shares in foreign final goods production, global free trade is less likely to be a stable equilibrium outcome. Free riding is the main problem preventing countries from liberalising trade. Countries are better off being nonmembers of FTAs between the other two countries relative to global free trade. Rules of Origin can solve this problem by limiting the benefits countries get from other countries' free trade agreements. In the case of asymmetric countries, an additional incentive exists for the smaller country not to join: such a country gives up more than it gains from joining an FTA for a sufficiently high degree of asymmetry in country sizes. I show that global free trade is a stable Nash equilibrium under a larger region of asymmetric country parameter space in the case of RoO than without it. Therefore, it is shown that RoO is essential in order to attain global free trade.

Standardization of Complex and Diversified Preferential Rules of Origin

The growing number of free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership agreements (EPAs) and the divergent contents of their preferential Rules of Origin (RoO) have led to the increasing complexity and diversity of such regulations. This has caused considerable concern among all parties involved in international trade. Although there has been some progress in attaining convergence of RoO in some product areas, particularly chemicals, similar initiatives have not been successful in other sectors, such as agricultural products, textiles, iron, steel and machinery. Instead, preferential RoO in these industries remain heterogeneous and often incompatible. This article examines the current state of preferential RoO. The regulatory rationale is analysed by separating the ‘content of rules’ from the ‘way of expressing rules’, with a focus on the World Trade Organization’s HarmonizationWork Programme of Non-Preferential Rules of Origin (HWP) and how this has influenced the development of preferential RoO. In addition, this article proposes the standardization of preferential RoO in key product sectors by harmonizing and simplifying the ‘way of expressing rules’ according to the ‘content of the rules’ to reduce disparities in the regulations. Rules of Origin, Preferential Rules of Origin, Non-Preferential Rules of Origin, Free Trade Agreements, Economic Partnership Agreements, World Trade Organization, Harmonization Work Programme

Rules of Origin in RCEP Agreement: Advancement and Convergence

The paper analyses the rules of origin (RoO) in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement (FTA) between Asia-Pacific nations. Despite some limitations, it is evidenced that origin provisions and product-specific rules in the RCEP manifest many advanced features as compared to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Such advanced features narrow the gap between the ASEAN’s FTAsand new generation FTAs in terms of RoO regimes. The RCEP is also expected to become a stepping stone towards the convergence of RoO in the ASEAN’s FTAs. ASEAN, ATIGA, origin, RCEP, rules of origin, RoO

Some Lessons that Might Be Learnt from Brexit Britain’s Trade Negotiations with the European Union

The UK-EU negotiations for new arrangements to cover trade in goods, following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, were long and complex. What lessons might politicians, trade negotiators, and academics learn from this long-drawn-out saga? This article focuses on five of the ways in which the UK misplayed, misunderstood, or misrepresented the consequences of Brexit. First, there was no plan for Brexit. Second, the implications for the Irish border and peace progress were not appreciated. Third, World Trade Organization (WTO) rules were not understood. Fourth, by threatening to break international law the UK undermined its credibility as a negotiating partner and increased the EU’s resolve to protect its market. Fifth, Boris Johnson’s unwillingness to acknowledge that leaving the EU’s customs union and Single Market would result in UK-EU trade barriers, distorted debate and raised unfulfilled expectations. Brexit, Ireland, EU, WTO, rules of origin, free trade area, customs union

دراسة فی الاستصحــــــاب، قواعده وتطبیقاته المعاصرة

دراسة في الاستصحــــــاب، قواعده وتطبيقاته المعاصرة السيد أبو المجد عرابي محمد . قسم أصول الفقه ، کلية الدراسات الإسلامية والعربية للبنين بقنا ، مصر . البريد الإلکتروني : alsayedmohamed.41@azhar.edu.eg ملخص البحث : عالج البحث قضية من القضايا الأصولية المهمة ، وهي دراسة علم الأصول دراسة تطبيقية ، أبرز لنا دور علم الفقه الإسلامي کميزان يجدر الاحتکام إليه في الکشف عن المسائل الغامضة، وحل المشکلات المستعصية على ضوء موازين الفقه الإسلامي، حيث إن من أهم أسباب إعراض الناس عن الفقه في الدين، وعدم تطبيقه في أبعاد الحياة، ظنهم قصور الفقه الإسلامي عن استيعاب مثل هذه المشکلات والحکم عليها، أو إيجاد الحلول، کما بين لنا الجانب التطبيقي للقواعد الأصولية في النوازل والقضايا المعاصرة، وهذا ما يوضح لنا مدى الارتباط بين علمي الأصول والفقه. وقد جاء البحث مشتملا على تعريف الاستصحاب ومکانته وفائدته وأنواعه وحجيته. ومبحث أول ذکرت فيه أهم القواعد الفقهية المبنية عن الاستصحاب ، کقاعدة اليقين لا يزول بالشک ، وقاعدة الأصل بقاء ما کان على ما کان.، ومبحث ثاني وضحت فيه أهم التطبيقات المعاصرة للاستصحاب ، کمسألة الموت الدماغي ، ومسألة أجهزة الإنعاش الصناعي، وختمت البحث بخاتمة ذکرت فيها أهم نتائج البحث. الکلمات المفتاحية : الاستصحاب، تعريف الاستصحاب، مکانة الاستصحاب وفائدته وحجيته، القواعد الفقهية المبنية على الاستصحاب، تطبيقاته المعاصرة. A study in desirability, its contemporary rules and applications Mr. Abu Al-Majd Orabi Mohammed. Department of Fundamentals of Jurisprudence, College of Islamic and Arab Studies for Boys, Qena , Egypt. Email: alsayedmohamed.41@azhar.edu.eg Abstract : The research dealt with one of the important fundamentalist issues, which is the study of the science of fundamentals an applied study. It highlighted for us the role of Islamic jurisprudence as a balance that should be used in revealing ambiguous issues and solving intractable problems in light of the scales of Islamic jurisprudence. Religion, and the lack of its application in the dimensions of life, think that Islamic jurisprudence fails to accommodate such problems And judging them, or finding solutions, as he showed us the application side of fundamentalist rules in calamities and contemporary issues, and this shows us the extent of the link between the science of principles and jurisprudence. The research came to include the definition of escapism, its position, usefulness, types, and authority. And a first study in which I mentioned the most important jurisprudential rules based on Al-Ishsahab, such as the rule of certainty that does not disappear with doubt, and the rule of origin is the survival of what was as it was. The most important search results. Key words: Al-Ishsahab, The definition Of Al-Issahab, The Status, Usefulness And Authority Of Al-Ishsahab, The Jurisprudential Rules Based On The Escaping, Its Contemporary Applications.

Reaping the AfCFTA Potential Through Well-Functioning Rules of Origin

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Rules of Origin (RoOs) determine the conditions for the application of the Agreement’s tariff preferences. The effectiveness of existing preferential trade agreements within the continent is undermined by heterogeneous RoO regimes and costly trade facilitation procedures. If these issues continue unchecked, they could harm the realization of AfCFTA ambitions. Here, we first discuss the economics of preferential RoOs, highlighting their associated benefits and costs within and beyond the African context. Second, we focus on the implementation of RoOs under the AfCFTA. We contend that cost-effective implementation is crucial to the AfCFTA RoO regime for production hubs to benefit from integrated African markets. Capacity building, the adoption of new technologies, and the establishment of effective institutional mechanisms will be important to track progress on RoO implementation and ensure high preference-utilization rates under the AfCFTA. These efforts shall be complemented by targeted support to the least developed countries and to small and medium enterprises. Finally, we recommend a set of actions to ensure the impartial, transparent, predictable, consistent, and cost-effective implementation of the AfCFTA RoOs.

Universal rules of life: metabolic rates, biological times and the equal fitness paradigm.

Here we review and extend the equal fitness paradigm (EFP) as an important step in developing and testing a synthetic theory of ecology and evolution based on energy and metabolism. The EFP states that all organisms are equally fit at steady state, because they allocate the same quantity of energy, ~ 22.4kJ/g/generation to the production of offspring. On the one hand, the EFP may seem tautological, because equal fitness is necessary for the origin and persistence of biodiversity. On the other hand, the EFP reflects universal laws of life: how biological metabolism - the uptake, transformation and allocation of energy - links ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes across levels of organisation from: (1) structure and function of individual organisms, (2) life history and dynamics of populations, and (3) interactions and coevolution of species in ecosystems. The physics and biology of metabolism have facilitated the evolution of millions of species with idiosyncratic anatomy, physiology, behaviour and ecology but also with many shared traits and tradeoffs that reflect the single origin and universal rules of life.