World Trade Organization Negotiations Research Articles

Sino-US Trade Frictions on Non-Automatic Export Licensing Under the WTO

Though fruitful, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round negotiations seem to be reaching a deadlock. It is hard to say when and how the next ministerial conference is to resume. The Doha Round negotiations look extremely difficult, especially with regard to more substantial issues, such as those concerning agricultural trade. This paper therefore attempts to introduce and analyze another, relatively rarely touched, issue in the WTO negotiations, that of non-automatic export licensing (NAEL). In the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the WTO forum these issues have been raised before, but divergence still exists in most fields. My argument is that these issues could serve as an alternative to current hot but difficult topics for the next round of negotiations in the WTO. Hopefully a new consensus on the disciplines as to some aspects of non-automatic export licensing is more likely to be achievable, and this would facilitate the further development of the WTO negotiations.

Global basic structure and institutions: The WTO as a practical example

In this article, I discuss the location of the sources of global poverty and injustice. I take it as granted that the members of the globally lowest income group live in unacceptable conditions and suffer from injustice. Yet the source of this injustice is a debatable question. Often the existing global institutions are seen as major causes behind this injustice. By taking the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations as a practical example, I aim to show that blaming the institutions as such can lead to misguided conclusions. The WTO, in fact, is quite just if one merely analyses its institutional structure. I argue that the major source of injustice are rather the prevailing power structures and the conduct of individual governments within this institutional framework, in other words the metaprocedural unfairness in the trade negotiations. I further argue that applications of Rawlsian theory of justice tend to be misleading at the global institutional level, as they focus disproportionately on the institutional structure, and tend to underestimate the relevance of the conduct of governments and the existing power structures, which allow powerful countries to use the institutional framework unjustly in their favour.

The Have Nots Have It: Triumph Of Developing Countries At The World Trade OrganizationMeeting In Geneva

In July 2004, 147 World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries met in Geneva where the developed countries agreed to cut back and eventually eliminate an estimated $350 billion of their farm and export subsidies. The accord was hammered out by five WTO members including India and Brazil and submitted to the WTOs plenary session where it was finally ratified on July 31, 2004. The Fifth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization held in Cancun in September 2003 collapsed from inside as internal squabbles and irreconcilable philosophical differences developed between the developed countries and the developing countries. The WTO, which started with noble objectives of raising the global standards of living through international trade agreements and cooperation among the WTO member countries, appeared to be teetering on the verge of a complete collapse. Over the past decade, through five ministerial conferences, the WTO member countries gradually got polarized into two main blocks, the haves and the have nots, the developed countries and the still developing countries respectively. One of the important items of contention was the issue of reduction and elimination of the huge farm subsidies in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). At the 2003 WTO conference in Cancun, 21 of the developing countries formed a group, known as G-21 initiated under the leadership of Brazil and India, and insisted on discussions for elimination of the farm subsidies of the EU-US combine. The EU and US governments give billions of dollars worth of agricultural and export subsidies annually to their farmers that allow them to have a competitive advantage in international markets in effect preventing agricultural producers in developing countries from having access to global markets. The EU delegates insisted that the four Singapore issues must be dealt with first before including any discussions on the issues of farm subsidies on the agenda. The G-21 over night swelled into G-70. The developing countries refused to be pushed into a corner and have proved that they are now a force to reckon with. The WTO Cancun conference came to a dramatic end without any agreement, leaving the negotiations in a deadlock. At the historic July 2004 WTO negotiations in Geneva, an accord has been reached under which the developed countries agreed to reduce and eventually eliminate their export and farm subsidies. The developing countries also agreed to lower their tariffs on imports from EU-US and other developed countries. The accord is expected to pave the way for the resumption of the WTO Doha Round of multilateral negotiations to liberalize world trade.

Philippine Civil Society and WTO Negotiations: Opportunities and Challenges

The essay discusses how civil society has found an opening in intervening in the decision-making process on the country’s negotiating position in the World Trade Organization (WTO). It particularly looks at political opportunity structures which made this possible including the following external and domestic factors: 1) the anti-globalization movement which has pressured states to be more transparent and accountable to the manner in which WTO policymaking is being undertaken, 2) the failure of the Uruguay Round to provide the economic benefits to the Philippines inducing the government to be more open to civil society intervention, 3) the effort of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the lead agency for the negotiations of the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), to bring in civil society players, which was exemplified by the DA’s establishment of the Task Force on the WTO (Re)Negotiations on the Agreement on Agriculture (TFWAR), and 4) the emergence of coalition-building in the WTO, particularly among developing countries. However, there are also challenges which civil society groups face such as the need for the active involvement of the legislators in the WTO negotiations; the institutionalization of civil society participation at the local and global levels; and the prioritization of civil society strategies on dealing with the WTO and their respective governments.

Japan's FTA Strategy toward Highly Developed Countries: Comparing Australia's and Switzerland's Experiences, 2000–09

This article analyzes Japan's motivations in opening negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and Switzerland, highlighting intersections between domestic and international factors. While Australia is a security ally of Japan and a main source of natural resources, Switzerland is a traditional ally in World Trade Organization negotiations and considered a gateway to the European market.

THE IMPACT ON THE BANANA MARKET OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS AND OF THE POSSIBLE CONCLUSION OF BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL WTO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

ISHS IV International Symposium on Banana: International Conference on Banana and Plantain in Africa: Harnessing International Partnerships to Increase Research Impact THE IMPACT ON THE BANANA MARKET OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS AND OF THE POSSIBLE CONCLUSION OF BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL WTO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

Philippine Civil Society and WTO Negotiations: Opportunities and Challenges

The essay discusses how civil society has found an opening in intervening in the decision-making process on the country's negotiating position in the World Trade Organization (WTO). It particularly looks at political opportunity structures which made this possible including the following external and domestic factors: 1) the anti-globalization movement which has pressured states to be more transparent and accountable to the manner in which WTO policymaking is being undertaken, 2) the failure of the Uruguay Round to provide the economic benefits to the Philippines inducing the government to be more open to civil society intervention, 3) the effort of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the lead agency for the negotiations of the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), to bring in civil society players, which was exemplified by the DA's establishment of the Task Force on the WTO (Re)Negotiations on the Agreement on Agriculture (TFWAR), and 4) the emergence of coalition-building in the WTO, particularly among ...

Potential Implications of a Special Safeguard Mechanism in the World Trade Organization: the Case of Wheat

The special safeguard mechanism both quantity and price based was key in the July 2008 failure to reach agreement in the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations under the doha development agenda. A stochastic simulation model of the world wheat market is used to investigate the effects of the special safeguard mechanism. As expected, the quantity-based safeguard is found to reduce imports, raise domestic prices, and boost mean domestic production in the countries that implement it. However, rather than insulating developing countries in those regions from price volatility, the quantity based safeguard increases domestic price volatility, largely by restricting imports when domestic output is low and prices are high. The quantity based safeguard shrinks average wheat imports nearly 50 percent in some regions, and global wheat trade falls by 4.7 percent. The price-based safeguard discriminates against lower price exporters and contributes to producer price instability.

Chinese Diplomacy towards the EU: Grand Vision but Hard to Manage

AbstractThis article investigates the sudden rise and subsequent slow decline of the European Union (EU) in Chinese diplomacy between 2002 and 2007. China’s decision in 2003 to consider relations with the EU as ‘strategic’ in nature does not reflect a fundamental change of mind but rather a perception of favourable circumstances. China has a long track record of high expectations towards a united Europe. After the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations had created a positive image of a united and independent EU, the transatlantic rift over the Iraq War in 2002 and 2003 seemed to present an international environment that was conducive to stronger China‐EU ties. Subsequently, however, the difficulties of engaging with a complex entity like the EU have contributed to souring diplomatic relations. This development is traced for two major cases of Chinese foreign policy towards the EU: the quest for recognition as a market economy; and the push to have the EU’s arms embargo lifted. Over time, Chinese engagement with the EU on these issues has gone through different phases, reflecting repeated attempts to improve the diplomatic approach, to eliminate unsuccessful strategies and to react to EU feedback. China has not yet reached its goal on either issue. The article concludes by pointing to the specific difficulties that have emerged from the evolution of Chinese diplomacy towards the EU on these two cases.

The Role of the Chair in the WTO Negotiations from the Potsdam Collapse in June 2007 to July 2008

This paper discusses two recent attempts to develop a theory to analyze the role of the chair in international negotiations and considers their validity to the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. The focus of the study is on the WTO Agriculture and Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) modalities negotiations after the G4 Potsdam collapse in June 2007 to the July 2008 G7 ministerial meetings. The analysis focuses on the role of the chair of NAMA in biasing the outcomes against the developing countries. The NAMA chair’s role is contrasted with that of the Agriculture chair’s more inclusive and bottom-up process. The paper offers some tentative proposals that could foster a more efficient and balanced outcome in future WTO negotiations.

Promise or pitfall? The limited gains from agricultural trade liberalisation for developing countries

It has become an article of faith in international trade negotiations that farmers in developing countries have much to gain from agricultural trade liberalisation. This paper assesses the evidence for such claims, relying on World Bank data and analyses, United Nations trade data, and other economic modelling carried out to inform the current round of World Trade Organisation negotiations. It concludes that the promise of agricultural trade liberalisation is overstated, while the costs to small-scale farmers in developing countries are often very high.

Climate Policy Options and the World Trade Organization

Abstract This paper examines whether the climate policy options policymakers are contemplating are compatible with core principles of the world trading system set forth in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Appellate Body decisions. The authors argue that border measures—both import restrictive measures and export subsidies—contemplated in US climate bills and the climate policies of other countries stand a fair chance of being challenged in the WTO. Given the prospect of foreseeable conflicts with WTO rules, the authors suggest that key WTO members should attempt to negotiate a new code that delineates a large “green space” for measures that are designed to limit GHG emissions both within the member country and globally. By “green space,” the authors mean policy space for climate measures that are imposed in a manner broadly consistent with core WTO principles even if a technical violation of WTO law could occur. To encourage WTO negotiating efforts along these lines, the authors recommend a time-limited “peace clause” to be adopted into climate legislation of major emitting countries. The peace clause would suspend the application of border measures or other extraterritorial controls for a defined period while WTO negotiations are under way. Published as Policy Paper

Sino-US Trade Frictions on Non-automatic Export Licensing under the WTO Sino-US Trade Frictions on NAEL under the WTO

Though fruitful, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round negotiations seem to be reaching a deadlock. It is hard to say when and how the next ministerial conference is to resume. The Doha Round negotiations appear extremely difficult, especially with regard to more substantial issues such as those concerning agricultural trade. This paper therefore attempts to introduce and analyze another relatively rarely touched issue in the WTO negotiations, that of non-automatic export licensing (NAEL). In the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the WTO forum, these issues have been raised before, but divergence still exists in most fields. My argument is that these issues could serve as an alternative to current hot but difficult topics for the next round of negotiations in the WTO. Hopefully, a new consensus on the disciplines as to some aspects of NAEL is more likely to be achievable, and this would facilitate the further development of the WTO negotiations.

Valuing environmental externalities from rice–wheat farming in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River

Environmental externalities generated by agriculture are attracting considerable attention. However, most research has focused either on environmental services that agriculture provides as a distinct ecosystem or the negative environmental impacts that agriculture imposes. Therefore, there is a great need to re-evaluate the all-round environmental roles of agriculture, to optimize environmental performance of agriculture and non-trade concerns in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. By valuing the environmental externalities of agriculture, this article aims to heighten awareness of the environmental roles of agriculture to stimulate its implication in agricultural policy-making. The study presents estimates of economic values of environmental externalities from rice–wheat farming system in Zhenjiang, in aspects of greenhouse gas emissions, non-point source pollution, carbon sequestration and water containing capacity. We provide a step-by-step analytic procedure, with each step including measurement of physical dimensions and monetary evaluation. The former is based on a large-scale literature review, which provided a vital foundation for the monetary valuation. The results reveal that the values of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural land, agricultural non-point source pollution, carbon sequestration by crop and soil, and the flood control function provided by agricultural land are estimated as: − US$3.61 × 10 7 a − 1 , − US$4.59 × 10 6 a − 1 , + US$2.30 × 10 9 a − 1 and + US$2.21 × 10 7 a − 1 , respectively. The net value of environmental externalities is as high as + US$2.28 × 10 9 a − 1 , representing 17.87% of local GDP and 4.12 times the total agricultural output value in 2006. The results suggest that crops and soil in Zhenjiang are the most important carbon sinks, and that agriculture in Zhenjiang has huge positive environmental externalities, although both greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural land and agricultural non-point sources pollution have negative environmental impacts.

The Green Dilemma about Liberalization of Trade in Environmental Goods

Environmental goods are a key element of the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. Conventional wisdom argues that trade liberalization of environmental goods is crucial in the sustainable economic development process as it sustains potential benefits for promoting environmental protection and economic development. For many, the ongoing WTO Doha negotiations represent an opportunity to enhance the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment. However, as this article shows, the policy choice for most developing countries is not so clear–cut. The truth is that most of them might not be better off with ambitious trade liberalization in this sector. This article attempts to answer if trade liberalization in environmental goods helps developing countries. If so, which trade liberalization policy would serve in best interest of as well as benefit these as well as benefit of these countries. Lastly, this article also looks at various scenarios of environmental goods liberalization in the context of the ongoing proposals on the WTO negotiating table and tries to assess how they measure up against the development objectives of the negotiations.

Climate Policy Options and the World Trade Organization

This paper examines whether the climate policy options policymakers are contemplating are compatible with core principles of the world trading system set forth in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Appellate Body decisions. The authors argue that border measures both import restrictive measures and export subsidies — contemplated in US climate bills and the climate policies of other countries stand a fair chance of being challenged in the WTO. Given the prospect of foreseeable conflicts with WTO rules, the authors suggest that key WTO members should attempt to negotiate a new code that delineates a large “green space” for measures that are designed to limit GHG emissions both within the member country and globally. By “green space,” the authors mean policy space for climate measures that are imposed in a manner broadly consistent with core WTO principles even if a technical violation of WTO law could occur. To encourage WTO negotiating efforts along these lines, the authors recommend a time-limited “peace clause” to be adopted into climate legislation of major emitting countries. The peace clause would suspend the application of border measures or other extraterritorial controls for a defined period while WTO negotiations are under way.

Impact of a gradual increase in milk quotas on the EU dairy sector

The European Union (EU) dairy sector is facing significant changes due to EU enlargement, the Luxembourg reform and ongoing World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. This paper explores the impact of alternative dairy policies in the context of a WTO agreement and further dairy policy adjustments. In particular, it analyses the impact of gradual but significant increases in EU milk quota and discusses the implications of different changes in the allocation of milk quotas. These scenarios are compared with the status quo as decided in the Common Agricultural Policy reform of 2003. We find that, by 2014?2015, the market effects of abolishing quota are similar to those of a 2 per cent gradual quota increase starting in 2009

Using negotiation to promote legitimacy: an assessment of proposals for reforming the WTO

How, if at all, can negotiations be conducted to promote the legitimacy of much criticized international institutions, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO)? Can negotiation procedures be designed so as to strengthen the legitimacy of, say, the WTO as an institution and the agreements it concludes?Two matters are widely recognized at this stage. First, a major problem facing the WTO is one of legitimacy and a chief reason for this is its decision-making, and especially negotiation, procedures. Those used informally in ad hoc ways are particularly controversial. Secondly, these negotiation procedures, as distinct from disagreements over substantive issues, have contributed significantly to recent setbacks in WTO talks. A number of experts, including current or former WTO associates, point specifically to lack of transparency and insufficient representation of parties in negotiations as key contributors to the erosion of legitimacy, which must be tackled if the organization is to be able to operate effectively. Much quoted is the WTO’s Director-General, Pascal Lamy, for calling the organization “medieval” in its decision-making methods following the failures of the Ministerial Conferences in Seattle and Cancun, and pointing to the need for a stronger rules-based trading system: “The procedures and rules of this organisation have not supported the weight of the task....The decision-making needs to be revamped.”This paper brings together and reviews a variety of proposals, formal and informal, made for reforming the WTO’s negotiation procedures. It then develops an approach to procedural justice based on four main principles, which can be used to identify (recognize) the legitimacy or justice content in these proposals and to categorize and assess them accordingly. Drawing on the wealth of ideas which emerge from this analysis, it concludes by pointing to particularly promising elements of reform.In so doing, the paper brings research literatures on justice and negotiation to bear on current debates over the legitimacy deficit in international institutions and global governance, using the WTO as a significant case. On the more practical side, it seeks to help concretizing what more legitimate negotiation procedures may mean and require, and how their “legitimacy content” may be assessed and indeed increased. Procedural justice is here the focus and taken to be very important, but obviously the problems of the WTO – including that of legitimacy – are also about other and, to date, better known and publicized issues.

SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TRADE AGREEMENTS: FROM PUBLIC DIALOGUE TO INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE

In common with the governments of the United States and Canada the European Commission subjects its trade policy to a publicly conducted impact assessment process. The EC approach differs from the others in assessing economic and social impacts as well as environmental ones, in other countries as well as domestically. In principle this can contribute to stengthening international governance. In practice difficulties are encountered in integrating the studies into the decision-making process. This paper examines the experience that has been accumulated in the EC programmme, with particular reference to studies at the global level for World Trade Organisation negotiations and regionally for the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area. These two examples offer pointers for how the impact assessment process might be adapted or extended to make a stronger contribution to international governance at both regional and global level.

The Rise of Asian Emerging Countries in the Global Economy: Implications for the Multilateral/Regional Trade Regime

This article first considers the process of competitive liberalization, which has driven the trend toward free trade and which has contributed to further integration of world economies. It illustrates that the trading system is highly competitive, with nations from North America, Europe and Asia seeking to sustain economic growth through greater reliance on export trade and through MNCs’ global value chains of production. The first section emphasizes that regionalism has strengthened worldwide, with the major economic players tending to focus on regional agreements, and more recently, on bilateral agreements. Next, the article discusses regionalization patterns, with an emphasis on the integration taking place in Asia. The major trade bloc in the region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is focusing on increased integration into the global economy. In recent years, it has been promoting trade agreements with Japan, South Korea, and the emerging Asian countries of China and India, among others. Therefore, the article considers whether a new economic pole is emerging in Asia. Last, the difficulties in concluding the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and the stalling of those negotiations from July 2006 to February 2007 point to an urgent need for global governance and supportive institutions. This article looks at critical issues in the global system, such as full participation of all players (particularly emerging and developing countries) in the decision-making process of international institutions, and the pursuit of sustainable development. Also, the impact of different cultures of trade will be important factors to consider in order to understand the emerging new world order.