Search

A decade has passed since Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as its 24th member in 2010. The total volume of Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) is approximately 2.2 billion USD, and has doubled over the past decade. Together with the quantitative achievements, Korea also has made endeavors to improve the quality of ODA implementation by establishing a proper legal foundation, policies, and strategies at the country level. In this regards, it is necessary for Korea to identify the challenges to overcome, and to establish mid-term or long-term strategy for better development cooperation to become a responsible middle-power donor country. Thus, the study aims to suggest long-term policy directions for international development cooperation through an assessment of Korea’s ODA performance over the past 10 years. To review in detail Korea’s achievements in the field of ODA since joining the OECD DAC, the study briefly analyzes the quantitative achievements to date and conducts a comprehensive study on implementation of major strategies and policies.

Although the negative effects of geopolitical events get more attention, geopolitical events also create positive investment opportunities. From globalization to free trade, international cooperation has complex implications for investing.

This paper uses a two-country dynamic general equilibrium model to consider how, following a trade cost shock, multinational firms’ offshoring decision and the countries’ different factor endowments affect wage inequality between high- and low-skilled workers in the home country. Highlighting task-offshoring, heterogenous firms, and factor proportions, the study sheds light on how offshoring shapes wage inequality along different time horizons. While the paper’s focus is the relationship between the U.S. (home country) and China (foreign country), its findings are more broadly relevant. The three main findings are these: First, both intensive and extensive margins contribute to the widening wage gap, with the latter playing a more important role in the short- to medium- term than it does in the initial stage after the trade cost shock. Second, endogenous firm entry raises wage for both low-skilled and high-skilled workers while also widening the wage gap between the two groups over time. Third, whether firms offshore to a foreign country like Mexico, where the supply of low-skilled laborers is moderately larger than in the home country, or to a country like China, where the supply of low-skilled laborers is vastly larger, makes scant difference to wage inequality in the long term.

Regional trade agreements are undergoing many changes. Notably, the trajectory of China’s trade agreements has been affected by the unique US-China Phase One agreement, and these agreements extend beyond free trade agreements (FTAs). China’s trade agreements represent a different path forward from that mapped out by deep FTAs (e.g., the CPTPP) in respect of the future of trade law. This paper analyses two crucial but underexplored questions: What are the approaches behind deep FTAs and China’s trade agreements? How can we assess trade agreements (particularly China’s trade agreements)? The article critically reviews China’s trade agreements and deep FTAs. Based on in-depth comparative study, it argues that China’s trade agreements adopt an early harvest approach, which contrasts starkly with the regulatory plowing approach found in deep FTAs. It further proposes a tripartite theoretical framework with six indicators to assess trade agreements in terms of their impacts on domestic regulation. It theorizes about three crucial variables of trade agreements: (i) breadth (regulatory outreach) with two indicators (WTO-plus and WTO-beyond rules); (ii) depth (regulatory density) with two indicators (regulatory cooperation and coherence, and domestic law changes); and (iii) strength (rule use intensity) with two indicators (state-to-state dispute settlement (SSDS) rules, and SSDS coverage). This framework provides key insights into the significant heterogeneity and rationales behind trade agreements. It is critical to the in-depth analysis of evolving trade agreements and their implications, and supports the thorough assessment of the merits of different agreements in future research.

The Trade in goods chapter of the TCA is meant to facilitate trade between the two parties by preventing the reestablishment of custom duties and quantitative restrictions. The new trade regime between EU and UK resembles to those typically established by other Free Trade Agreements, except that the TCA does not exclude cumbersome border controls, as operators have discovered at their costs immediately after 1st January 2021. These controls are necessitated by the absence of commitments by the UK to stick for the future to the EU regulation. The recovered ´freedom to regulate` by the UK could lead to imbalance in market conditions stemming from diverging domestic regulation as to competition rules and subsidies, labour and environmental standards. To guarantee that the enterprises of the two parties enjoy in all respects equal terms of access to, and treatment in, each other’s markets an innovative mechanism has been devised. The Level Playing Field provisions provide for multi-step procedures, allowing protective countermeasures by the party affected, including even custom duties, labelled as “rebalancing” tools. A complex system designed to dissuade a party from lowering its standards or unfairly subsidizing its enterprise by putting the relative freedom of trade between the parties under the TCA at risk of further back-sliding.

The Tennessee Wine case, decided in June of 2019, had a major effect on the path of the law for an issue not argued in it. The Supreme Court affirmed invalidity of a protectionist state liquor regulation that discriminated against interstate commerce in violation of the dormant commerce clause doctrine. Its holding rejected a vigorous defense based on the special terms of the Twenty-first Amendment that ended Prohibition—an issue of interest only to those involved in markets for alcoholic drinks. However, the Court’s opinion removed serious doubts about validity of the Doctrine itself, even though the petitioner and supporting amici curiae did not ask it to review the issue. The Doctrine was established by 19th Century Supreme Court decisions that set the legal framework for the American common market—until justices advocating the Doctrine’s abolition seemed close to a majority early in the present Century. The Tennessee Wine opinion eliminated that threat for the foreseeable future.

In recent times, there have been more intra-African trade, socio-economic activities, and this time with fewer modalities/complexities. This is because The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (The AFCFTA) has come to the rescue hence creating a single market for freedom of movement of people/goods between African Countries. Nigeria's ratification of the Agreement stands to open a window of commercial opportunities for Nigerian Technological, energy, and industrial sectors by allowing a free flow of technological and industrial innovations, ideas, and manpower from Nigeria to other African Countries; thereby allowing access into a unified new market. The agreement is also a starting point for more detailed negotiations on trade in goods and services and other trade-related issues including competition, investment, and intellectual property. This paper seeks to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and how it can boost Nigerian commerce.

On May 5, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative announced plans to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. We use GTAP to model the economic impacts of this free trade agreement, exclusively focusing on the bilateral tariff elimination. We find that a standard GTAP model leads to a general improvement in economic conditions for both countries, but more for the U.K. than the U.S. However, in a second model we build on previous studies that incorporate worker displacement effects and our results show a small negative impact to employment for both countries and a negative effect on GDP for the U.S. Our results suggest the importance of incorporating worker displacement when modelling international trade.

In this paper, we show that exporters react more strongly to a cut in tariffs by a distant country when their banks have already been specializing in funding exports to this country. To make our case, we build upon a theoretical model where an informational advantage provided by the exporter's bank results in a lower distribution cost in the destination country. We test the implications of this model for French exporters using the 2011 free trade agreement between the European Union and South-Korea as a quasi-natural experiment. We measure a bank's specialization in Korea using granular information on bank-firm credit lines and firm-level exports in the years preceding the agreement. We assess how customers of different banks react to this trade liberalization episode using detailed information on the bilateral tariff cuts and disaggregated data on French export flows at the firm-product level. We find robust evidence that the specialized lenders help exporters to respond more strongly to changes in tariffs. The effect is strong for all firms along the extensive margin, but only for less productive exporters along the intensive margin.

Both Korea and India have made phenomenal progress in integrating with ASEAN over time. However, the potential of the partnership is yet to be fully unlocked. What Korea and India need is a joint vision to add new momentum to the bilateral partnership as well as Indo-Pacific. Here comes the need for collaboration between the two countries under their respective Act East Policy (AEP) and New Southern Policy (NSP). In the pursuit of the new southward strategy, Korea may come out with its own Indo-Pacific Vision, which will then lead the partnership to another higher level.

COVID-19 has resulted in extraordinarily challenging times. The outbreak has disrupted the lives of people and is casting a heavy impact on the economies around the world by interrupting business operations and commercial activities. Whilst everyone is busy identifying various strategies from short term and medium to long term to overcome the recession, the future projects a blurry picture at least for the moment. A study group consisting of eminent persons recently submitted a report to the President containing recommendations aimed at steering Sri Lanka into a post-COVID-19 era of economic recovery. One of the recommendations was on Trade Agreements. The suggestion includes action to revive and accelerate the negotiation of a trade partnership agreement with China; an expanded agreement with India; an agreement with Thailand and with other Asian countries particularly other ASEAN members including Japan and to maximize the benefits from the Agreement already entered with Singapore. In this backdrop, the question arises as to whether the existing laws in Sri Lanka on Trade and Anti-Dumping are sufficient to protect the domestic traders and domestic industries against any possible unfair trading practices and the possibility of an unforeseen surge of imports which may arise with the signing of more Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements. An attempt is made in this article to examine the key features and the effectiveness of the provisions of the legislation passed by the Parliament in 2018 on Anti-Dumping and to identify the protective measures that are sought to be introduced under the same. The Anti-Dumping & Countervailing Duties Act, No. 2 of 2018, and the Safeguard Measures Act, No. 3 of 2018 were certified by the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament in March 2018. The enactment of these two laws was to remedy a need to answer the grievances of domestic producers and manufacturers. The official statement issued by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on the occasion stipulates that Sri Lanka has taken a fairly long time to introduce the relevant legislation. This article proceeds to consider some of the salient features of the Anti-Dumping & Countervailing Duties Act, No. 2 of 2018 (the Anti-Dumping Act of 2018 Act) namely: (1) Part I of the Anti-Duping Act of 2018 on Anti-Dumping Duties, (2) the procedural steps in investigations under Part I on Anti-Dumping (3) Part II of the Anti-Duping Act of 2018 Act on Countervailing Duties, and (4) the procedural steps in investigations under Part II on Countervailing Duties. The Anti-Dumping Act of 2018 contains significant noteworthy features. Firstly, the act attempts to strike a balance between competing interests. The Right to Information on one hand and the economic value of sensitive trade-related information on the other. Secondly, the Act specifies timeframes for inquiries and related procedural steps recognizing the importance of resolving trade-related disputes in an effective, efficient, and efficacious manner. Thirdly the Act lays down a systematic procedure that ensures a fair opportunity be given to all parties with provision for public interest intervention. In terms of methodology, this article strictly adopts a doctrinal approach; doctrinal since the article proceeds to engage in an analysis of the law as it is on the four areas identified above. The enactment of these two laws will significantly improve the country’s standing in global trade and Sri Lanka will join the league of World Trade Organization - WTO members who keenly look to offset possible adverse impacts on their domestic industries from trade liberalization processes. The Gazette Notification making the Anti Dumping Law operable was issued on the 09th of October 2020 and the law is in force from 10 Oct 2020. The order by the Minister under section 01 was published in the Gazzetta Extraordinary No. 2197/4 – dated 12th October 2020. Both the laws on paper appear to be comprehensive. Yet the levels of effectiveness can be evaluated only when the Act stands the test of time. The reason/s for the delay in making the law operational is unclear. Section 84(1) of the Anti-Dumping Act authorizes the Minister to make regulations in respect of all matters required by the Act; the hold may be attributable to the formulation of the regulations. It may also be due to the setting up of infrastructure to facilitate the holding of inquiries, arming the officials with the necessary expertise for the successful implementation of the Act, or the contemplation of changes in policy and the introduction of further amendments to the already enacted laws. The effectiveness and/or whether the existing laws are sufficient to protect the domestic producers in the event of a surge of imports is debatable. The existing laws at the moment are not operational and the effectiveness is yet to stand the test of time. At the same time, the need to further consider strengthening the laws to protect domestic industries and producers whilst entering into more Trade Agreements cannot be undermined.

Spanish abstract: El tema surge del interes por entender el alcance urbano de la globalizacion en un pais como Colombia; un contexto socioespacial que contiene un sin fin de dinamicas que se dan en diferentes escalas. Con base en ello, el trabajo realizado en la investigacion se centro en la capital del pais y su suelo urbano. De este modo surgio la pregunta: como se ha transformado Bogota con la apertura economica? La cual, requirio reconocer que desde los anos noventa y hasta la actualidad el fenomeno global ha estado mas latente, tanto en sus politicas de comercio como en su modelo economico. Se entregan caracteristicas descriptivas de los efectos espaciales identificados como determinantes en la transformacion urbana de Bogota. Estos efectos se resumen en los siguientes subtitulos: la ciudad como espacio glocal, redensificacion o fragmentacion urbana y espacios urbanos puntuales o incontinenti. English abstract: The interest arises from the interest in understanding the urban scope of globalization in a country like Colombia; a socio-spatial context that contains endless dynamics that occur at different scales. Based on this, the work carried out in the investigation focused on the capital of the country and its urban land. In this way, the question arose: how has Bogota been transformed with the economic opening? Which required recognizing that from the 1990s to the present the global phenomenon has been more latent, both in its trade policies and in its economic model. Descriptive characteristics of the spatial effects identified as determining factors in the urban transformation of Bogota are provided. These effects are summarized in the following subtitles: the city as a glocal space, urban redensification or fragmentation, and punctual or incontinent urban spaces.

China and the actions of its leadership have been increasingly seen as a challenge to U.S. national security. This belief is held in common by high-level state officials throughout their official statements as well as by the general public in polls about China’s perceived threat. This article seeks to examine the extent to which China poses as a challenge to U.S. national security, describe how the nation-state might likely do so, and how this threat may change over time. While China remains an active and largely peaceful member of the international community that is constantly evolving in terms of its own foreign policy, it currently has the capabilities to directly challenge U.S. homeland security as well as indirectly degrade U.S. foreign interests as well. Rather than through traditional military means, this threat China poses to U.S. homeland security stems from a rising level of economic influence within the U.S. domestic sphere, as well as a robust cyberwarfare and counter-space program that has the potential to damage U.S. civilian, military, and commercial sectors. However, China has become more and more adept at challenging the U.S. alliance network and overseas bases through both non-conventional and conventional military means, posing a threat to U.S. objectives of free trade as well as allied nations’ political integrity that may lead to direct conflict in the future.

On March 1, 2021, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister and former vice-president of the World Bank, started her first day in office at the WTO as Director-General. There are a myriad of worries and challenges ahead of her. Notwithstanding its long-term importance, the “moribund WTO” is not regarded as a subject of urgent attention. In her inaugural statement, she laid out imminent challenges the global economy faces and urgent tasks that need to be addressed by the WTO. Under the circumstances, however, what the multilateral trading system needs most is the restoration of confidence and trust in trade and intergovernmental cooperation based upon this, not tackling the set-out agenda one by one. In the perspective of desperate urgency and long-term importance, the resumption of the Appellate Body at the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) would be not only a great deliverable of the the 12th Ministerial Conference but the significant first step toward reviving the multilateral trade system as well. The Biden administration has constantly sent signals that the United States would come back to the multilateral table and cooperate with allies. Hopefully, the new Director-General will take actions to establish a common ground across members to move forward in this imperative matter as soon as possible.

FTAs have been known to have large positive effects on trade creation between member countries. However, it is relatively unexplored how much small/medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for in the trade creation due to FTAs compared to large-sized enterprises (LEs). We find that Korean FTA policies have significantly increased SMEs’ direct exports to FTA partner countries between 2005 and 2017, although the effects were as much as a half of those for LEs, which indicates a considerable LEs’ premium in the direct export effects of FTAs. We further find that the FTAs also significantly increased the indirect exports of Korean firms, i.e., the domestic input supplies through in-dustrial input-output linkage, and that SMEs have benefited more from the indirect export effects of FTAs than LEs. Considering the direct and indirect export effects together, the LEs’ premium in the total export effects of FTA is found to become smaller.

In this paper I examine the impact of trade liberalization on labor market outcomes using a model with high- and low-skilled workers and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. I argue that IPR protection is crucial to determine labor market effects of trade liberalization in skill-abundant countries. With IPR protection R&D firms fully internalize the greater market size for their innovation. This leads to low-skill-biased technological change countervailing the negative labor market effects of relative price changes in a Heckscher-Ohlin trade model (Stolper-Samuleson theorem). To solve the general equilibrium model I calibrate it to match the US labor market between 2008 and 2014. I demonstrate that IPR protection cushions the negative price effects of trade liberalization, i.e., the wage gap does not increase as much, all workers face lower unemployment rates and higher wages. Without IPR protection the wages for low skilled workers would decline and their unemployment rate increases after trade liberalization. Moreover, I use CPS (current population survey) data to empirically confirm the model predictions.

Lack of A Legal Framework: Now that we have the technology and trade agreements to facilitate border-free trades, why not using them. So far, the only major obstacle to the advent of smart contracts is a lack of a legal framework. It is no surprise that the legal structures to regulate the manner in which society utilizes new technologies always lag behind the technologies themselves. The regulatory issues surrounding the advent of online gambling or the distribution of digitized music are good examples. Historically, the agencies tasked with protecting consumers concerning securities and overseeing currency have been slow-footed to catch up to the workings of this complex technology. There have been some early attempts at legislation. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), introduced the Token Taxonomy Act in 2018, updating it in April 2019. Early versions of the massive bailout legislation to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic included some forms of a digital dollar to quicken the government aid to the non-banked. In conclusion, AI, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technologies are no different on the regulatory front. Instead of blocking, it is time to utilize these technologies, to facilitate our across-border trades. Maybe it is time to draft a state-less law to regulate border-free trades in our new mercantile community. Introduction At the time of NAFTA’s negotiation, the world appeared to be dividing into regional trading groups like the European Union (EU) and MERCOSUR.10 While global trade talks through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Uruguay Round were faltering (1993), the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round trade negotiations was in peril.11 In fact, other regional agreements grew stronger as the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO), launched in 2001, failed to conclude with an agreement. This Paper analyzes the evolution of trade rules for digital commerce across the North American marketplace, specifically trades governed by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It explores the manner in which NAFTA treated Intellectual Property (IP) and how USMCA introduced new chapters to protect IP and digital trade data while facilitating digital commerce. Part II explores the history of IP rights protection under NAFTA. Part III reviews the new challenges in the information age that are covered or not covered in United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Part IV concludes with a call for more prescriptions of future modern and advanced methods for cross-border finance and data protection. It touches on the application of new technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart contracts that can be used for the protection of free trade. Intellectual Property under of North American Free Trade Agreement: Indeed, “NAFTA was a trade agreement that, by reducing tariffs on many goods and services, created the opportunity for North American companies to [utilize] transnational vertical supply chains and better compete in the global marketplace.”27 NAFTA was the first free trade agreement to include an Intellectual Property Rights chapter28 and contained provisions aimed at securing IP rights. The NAFTA Parties were to adopt strict measures against industrial theft, adhere to rules protecting IP,29 and create foreseen consequences for the Violation of IP rights.30 As a result, in order to comply with the dictates of NAFTA, Mexico had to change many of its laws.31 For example, Mexico had to amend Article 27 of its Constitution to address Mexico’s communal landholding doctrine, the ejido. Data Flow between the Parties: “Cross-border data flow” refers to the movement or transfer of information between computer servers across national borders.51 In fact, cross-border data flows are part of, and integral to, digital trade and facilitate the movement of goods, services, people, and finance. Use of Technology to Protect Digital Trade: Businesses across the economy and the country will benefit from FTAs including “Digital Economy.” In areas such as data processing, blockchain, self-driving cars, and quantum technology we have the opportunity to help shape global rules through ambitious digital trade provisions. Moreover, innovations in technology have the potential to enable and disrupt international commerce. For example, the United States-Mexico remittance corridor is one of the largest in the world, with over $30 billion in transactions a year, financial transactions for such a large amount can be very challenging. However, the rapid development of cryptocurrencies has enabled cross-border transactions at just a fraction of the cost and unprecedented speeds, spurring collaboration between crypto innovators in the U.S. and Mexico. The good news is that USMCA provides opportunities for blockchain technology to be deployed and showcased for use cases and eventual scalability. Smart Contract: Blockchain ensures immediate and across-the-board transparency, as transactions added to the blockchain are time-stamped and cannot easily be tampered with. Smart contracts can be used to automate processes, further reducing costs. However, the outside of Blockchain smart contracts retain the same potential problems as centralized databases. Smart contracts represent the next level in the progression of blockchains from a financial transaction protocol to an all-purpose utility. Due to their decentralized and distributed nature and the use of cryptographic techniques, blockchains are said to be highly resilient to cyber-attacks compared to traditional databases – although there is no such thing as perfect resilience. They are pieces of software, not contracts in the legal sense, that extend blockchains’ utility from simply keeping a record of financial transaction entries to automatically implementing terms of agreements. The term “smart contract” is, in fact, a misnomer: smart contracts are neither “smart” (there is no cognitive or artificial intelligence component to them, only the automatic execution of a pre-defined task when certain conditions are met), nor are they contract in a legal sense.

Throughout this study, I consider some possible changes that may occur when the WTO’s AB is reformed based on the opinions stated by the US. Especially focusing on the issues of activist AB and its reviewing member countries’ domestic law, I conclude that banning the AB’s activist role may result in more opportunistic and inefficient policy choices on the part of member countries as to importing industries with less disputes cases. Regarding the latter issue, I argue that limiting the AB’s standard of review does not much change strategic decisions of member countries.

Despite constraints like rearing of livestock under sub optimal conditions due to low economic status of livestock owners, India has now become the largest producer of milk in the world. The development of Indian dairy sector is an unprecedented success story as it is based on millions of small producers. Government of India is making concerted efforts to raise the per capita availability of milk through increase in productivity of milch animals. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, assistance is being provided to the State Governments for controlling animal diseases, scientific management and upgradation of genetic resources, increasing availability of nutritious feeds and fodder, improving microbiological quality of milk, etc. The microbiological quality of milk is poor owing to inadequate knowledge of clean milk production and lack of post milking chilling facilities at the village level. In the present milieu, when production of dairy products to match international standards has become necessary to compete in international market of milk and milk products, steps need to be initiated to improve quality of Indian milk products with a view to boost export trade of these products in free trade regime and earn valuable foreign exchange as well as provide clean and quality milk to domestic population for their better health. Though India does not want to leave any stone unturned insofar as her presence in international trade of milk and milk products is concerned, the liberalisation of markets within the WTO framework, especially due to the export subsidies indulged in by OECD countries, now seen to be threatening the Indian dairy sector.

The conflict between the United States and China may be the issue of most importance as well as interest to the world, prior to COVID-19. This conflict between the two countries is appearing not only in the economic sector, but also in various field such as politics, diplomacy, and military affairs. Such competition between the two countries is likely to escalate further as multilateral systems such as the WTO are threatened and protectionism intensifies in the post-COVID-19 world. Even within Latin America, the competition between the two countries frequently appears in a variety of forms. Conflicts between the United States and China in Latin America tend to occur mainly in the infrastructure sectors. Furthermore, the United States pressured Latin American countries to choose between the United States and China, with the results of this pressure depending on the political orientation of the ruling government. In order to investigate the impact of retaliatory tariffs between the two countries on Latin American countries’ exports and welfare, we employ an event analysis for exports and computational general equilibrium (CGE) model for welfare, with Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile as the subject of our analysis. Based on the outcome of the event study, Brazil’s exports to the United States moderately increased due to the tariff imposition, and such an effect persisted for short term. Its exports to China rose considerably immediately after the tariff imposition, and then the impact tended to decrease over time. By contrast, it is difficult to conclude that the tariff imposition had a statistically significant and lasting effect on the exports of the remaining three countries to the United States and China. As a result of the analysis using the CGE model, meanwhile, the tariffs imposed between the United States and China trivially increased the welfare of Latin American countries.

Trade-related issues such as market access and tariff elimination or reduction have been the main concerns of free trade agreements or FTAs since the early 2000s. With more attention recently given to the concept of sustainable development, however, a growing number of countries start to share a common understanding that global and concerted efforts for environmental and labour protection are crucial for sustainable growth. In this context more of the recent FTAs focus on non-trade concerns such as protection of the environment and workers. A leading example is the FTA between Korea and the EU. Ever since the Korea-EU FTA, the EU has included a chapter on “Trade and Sustainable Development” or “TSD” to extensively provide for environment and labour obligations in its bilateral trade agreements. Further, it is noteworthy that the U.S. and the EU have resorted to dispute settlement and enforcement mechanisms within their FTAs to ensure that their trade partners effectively implement environment and labour obligations at the domestic level. For instance, on December 17, 2018, the European Commission requested a consultation to Korea under the Korea-EU FTA on the grounds that the Korean government had not shown sufficient efforts in ratifying the remaining four of the eight fundamental ILO Conventions and thus acted inconsistently with the TSD Chapter of the same FTA. This is the first case that the EU has ever initiated a dispute settlement procedure under a TSD chapter. The Panel of Experts was composed on December 30, 2019, and the final report was recently published on January 25th, 2021. Against this background, for consideration by the Korean government this Brief discusses the emerging trends of environmental and labour provisions in U.S. and EU trade agreements (with a special emphasis on the USMCA), particularly focusing on the aspect of ‘enforceability’ of such obligations.

English Abstract: The increasingly tense interplay between trade and politics should not blind us to the fact that the postwar liberalization of trade worldwide has been a resounding success and remains one of globalism’s most significant achievements, if not the most important achievement, period. This opening up did not happen spontaneously in an institutional vacuum. Instead, the current degree of economic openness and the resulting prosperity are results of a combination of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and later the World Trade Organization (WTO), underwritten largely by the United States, as well as a variety of regional initiatives. The existing platforms for trade liberalization - WTO, regional trade blocs, and other preferential trade agreements (PTAs) - have their weaknesses. One is that the low-hanging fruit of slashing tariffs and removing quotas has been mostly picked. The remaining trade barriers revolve around politically thorny issues related to technical and regulatory questions, intellectual property, and distorted agricultural markets. In addition, the one-way nature of WTO membership has been subject to abuse by state-capitalist economies, particularly China, which has gained access to Western markets while jealously shielding its incumbent firms from foreign competition. However, giving up on the institutions underpinning the current trade regime would be extremely unwise, particularly at a time of historically unprecedented economic distress accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the constraints imposed by the WTO and PTAs, nothing would stop politicians from reverting back to trade policies that cater to special interests while distributing the costs over the wider public. As the example of the Great Depression shows, such danger would be imminent in bad economic times when the temptation to impose discriminatory trade barriers would be strong and doing so would amplify the size of adverse economic shocks. A zero- or negative-sum economic environment provides fuel for extremist ideologies, militarism, and war. Avoiding such a scenario is precisely the challenge facing the world today. Polish Abstract: Narastające tarcia pomiedzy sferą polityki i handlu nie powinny przeslaniac nam faktu, ze powojenna liberalizacja światowego handlu okazala sie ogromnym sukcesem i pozostaje jednym z najwiekszych, o ile nie najwiekszym osiągnieciem okresu globalizacji. To otwarcie nie dokonalo sie spontanicznie, w instytucjonalnej prozni. Wrecz przeciwnie, obecny poziom gospodarczej otwartości i bedący jej skutkiem dobrobyt są efektem kombinacji wielostronnych negocjacji handlowych, prowadzonych pod auspicjami Ukladu Ogolnego w sprawie Taryf Celnych i Handlu (GATT), a poźniej Światowej Organizacji Handlu (WTO), zyrowanych glownie przez Stany Zjednoczone, a takze licznych inicjatyw regionalnych. Istniejące platformy liberalizacji handlu – WTO, regionalne porozumienia handlowe i preferencyjne porozumienia handlowe (PTA, ang. Preferential Trade Arrangements) mają swoje wady. Łatwo osiągalne korzyści z nich plynące, takie jak zniesienie cel i kwot zostaly juz w wiekszości zrealizowane. Pozostale bariery w handlu koncentrują sie wokol politycznie trudnych spraw, związanych z kwestiami technicznymi i prawnymi, wlasnością intelektualną i zdeformowanym rynkiem rolnym. Dodatkowo, jednostronny charakter czlonkostwa w WTO jest naduzywany przez gospodarki stosujące model panstwowego kapitalizmu, w szczegolności Chiny, ktore uzyskaly dostep do zachodnich rynkow, jednocześnie zazdrośnie chroniąc swoje firmy przed zagraniczną konkurencją. Jednak rezygnacja z instytucji, na ktorych zbudowany jest obecny system handlu bylaby skrajnie nieodpowiedzialna, szczegolnie w czasie bezprecedensowego kryzysu gospodarczego towarzyszącego pandemii wirusa COVID-19. Bez ograniczen narzuconych przez WTO i PTA nic nie powstrzymaloby politykow przed powrotem do polityki handlowej, ktora uwzglednia partykularne interesy, natomiast koszty przerzuca na spoleczenstwo. Jak pokazuje przyklad wielkiego kryzysu, takie niebezpieczenstwo jest jak najbardziej realne w zlych gospodarczo czasach. Powstaje wtedy pokusa, by narzucac dyskryminacyjne bariery handlowe, co jedynie poglebia negatywne skutki wstrząsow gospodarczych. Ekonomiczna gra o sumie zerowej lub ujemnej napedza ekstremistyczne ideologie, militaryzm i w koncu prowadzi do wojny. Unikniecie takiego scenariusza to najwazniejsze wyzwanie przed ktorym stoi dzisiaj świat.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is one of the Mega Regional Trade agreements with the main objective of liberalized trade among the fast-growing Asia Pacific member countries. CPTPP (formerly TTP) members consist of eleven countries in wake of the secession of the United States (US). After Brexit, the United Kingdom (UK) government seeking new trade agreements with a major focus on trade in goods between the UK and non-EU countries. The UK recently applies to join CPTPP. Against this backdrop, this research quantitively seeks the economic impact of the UK joining CPTPP using the Global computable general equilibrium (CGE) approach. Results show that if United Kingdom joins CPTPP, there is optimistic and encouraging growth in UK’s economy. However, countries like China, EU-27, India, and Brazil have adverse implications. This research indicates that UK membership in CPTPP would not only boost UK economy but also result in an expansion in real factor return of the UK resulting in higher investment and employment in the country.

This paper analyzes and compares differences in policy implications between import tariffs and antidumping (AD) duties in the presence of dumping under free trade. We present a vertical differentiation model of international trade in "like" products under duopolistic competition, allowing for the endogenous quality decisions by two competing firms located separately in a developed country (DC) and a less-developed country (LDC). Product markets in the trading countries exhibit different degrees of competition due to an inter-country income differential. We show that the LDC firm sells a lower-quality product and practices dumping in the DC market by charging a price lower than the product's price in its LDC local market (i.e., less than fair value). Relative to an AD policy, the DC government's import tariff policy makes its domestic firm better off. As for DC consumers, they are better off under free trade than a tariff or an AD policy when international market competition is high. However, if the market competition is low, the import tariff policy generates the highest surplus for DC consumers. Moreover, the DC government's response to LDC dumping results in higher domestic welfare than alternative policies such as AD duties or free trade. From the perspective of global welfare, our results indicate that a tariff policy is preferred over an AD policy when dumping occurs under free trade.

Consumption is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study theoretically analyzes how trade liberalization and consumption tax affect firm locations across countries and GHG emissions originating from consumption. Introducing consumption-originated emissions in a standard footloose capital model, we find several novel results that extend previous analyses of production-originated GHG emissions. First, trade liberalization has a non-monotonic effect on global emissions; that is, as trade costs decline, global emissions initially decrease and then increase. Second, consumption taxes cause carbon leakage; that is, the tax on one country reduces emissions in that country, while increasing it in the rest of the world. Third, optimal consumption taxes that maximize global welfare must be neutral about firm location decisions. In particular, even if firms are asymmetrically distributed across countries in the absence of a consumption tax, the optimal tax level must be identical across countries.

This paper studies the effect of an increase in import competition on informality along two margins. It considers the extensive margin, where workers are hired by unregistered employers, and the intensive margin, where even though jobs are carried out by registered firms, employees are off the books. Peru’s relentless informal employment and its unprecedented trade-driven growth provides an ideal case study. Using a rich household survey, this study finds that exposure to trade impacts on informality through two competing and contrasting mechanisms. On the one hand, extensive-informal employment declines as unregistered employers shrink or exit due to their low productivity. On the other hand, intensive-informal employment rises as registered employers reduce costs by hiring informal workers. Furthermore, results suggest that the intensive margin drives the overall effect. Hence, trade liberalization increases informality.

In order for the African Union to achieve the laudable trade liberalization and integration objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, Africa’s troubling infrastructure deficit remains a key challenge to be resolved. While Africa undoubtedly has a demand for infrastructure projects, and investors the world over have capital to invest, a lack of bankable infrastructure projects in which to invest has remained a key factor occasioning the widening deficit and hindering investment inflow into African projects. In this paper, I articulate the centrality of infrastructure to Africa’s free trade area initiative and then I explain the bankability problem with African infrastructure projects. Finally, I conclude by proffering a framework to resolve the bankability impasse, submitting that its successful implementation will eventually produce quality infrastructure projects that will provide the enabling environment for the AfCFTA to achieve its objectives.

In this paper, we employ machine learning techniques to capture heterogeneity in free trade agreements. The tools of machine learning allow us to quantify several features of trade agreements, including volume, comprehensiveness, and legal enforceability. Combining machine learning results with gravity analysis of trade, we find that more comprehensive agreements result in larger estimates of the impact of trade agreements. In addition, we identify the policy provisions that have the most substantial effect in creating trade flows. In particular, legally binding provisions on antidumping, capital mobility, competition, customs harmonization, dispute settlement mechanism, e-commerce, environment, export and import restrictions, freedom of transit, investment, investor-state dispute settlement, labor, public procurement, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, services, technical barriers to trade, telecommunications, and transparency tend to have the largest trade creation effects.

The massive expansion of world trade has been one of the most important occurrences in postwar economic history. In comparison to the rest of the world, Indian trade increased slowly but steadily from 1950 to 1980. The Indian government began a series of reforms in mid-1991 to liberalize and globalize the Indian economy. Since1991, India's economy has pursued a liberalization program. International trade is a critical strategic tool for a country's economic success. As a result, India has shifted away from inward-looking economic policies in order to compete in the global economy (Ratna & Kallummal, 2013). The current article focuses on India's new strategic participation in international trade through free trade agreements (FTAs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs).

Since 1983, Ghana has witnessed trade liberalization policies that were introduced as part of structural adjustment and economic recovery programmes and meant to open up the once closed economy. As part of such reforms, tariffs were reduced, and non-tariff trade barriers lessened. The adjustment programme also sought to make the once neglected private sector a key player in Ghana’s economic development since the sector is recognized as an engine of growth, hence, needed to accelerate the rapid industrialization of the country. In view of this, a key question begging for answers has been: how has the reductions in import restrictions in Ghana impacted on the performance of firms in terms of profitability in the private sector? This paper attempts to answer this question by investigating the effects of tariffs on the profitability of private firms in the manufacturing sector using firm-level data. Profitability is measured as the net profit margin of a firm. For our regression analysis, we employ robust pooled OLS and the fixed effects estimators. The findings reveal that tariff reductions are associated with increased profitability in such firms. Also, firm productivity and profitability were found to be positively related.

The port is well endowed with numerous opportunities that is continually tapped by players of the sector which includes but not limited to; freight forwarders, exporters and importers, shipping lines, customs etc. thus contributing to job creation, increased global value chain and development at the ports. The times of global disruption requires a re-think and bold decisions to invest in areas such as ports to propel the economy for the future. Regardless of time, investments remain constant and therefore a proactive approach to our ports with the AFCFTA coming into effect will help create investment opportunities for the country

This paper examines which types of firms, from a developed country (DC) or a less developed country (LDC), tend to practice dumping, using a two-market equilibrium analysis of trade in "like" products. Specifically, we present a vertical product differentiation model of duopolistic competition between a DC firm and an LDC firm under free trade to show that the DC firm sells a higher-quality product without dumping. In contrast, the LDC firm sells a lower-quality product and practices dumping in the DC market by charging a price lower than the product's price in its LDC market. As such, dumping is a signal of lower product quality. The imposition of an antidumping duty by the DC government increases domestic welfare. The LDC's social welfare may increase if its exporting firm accepts a price-undertaking rather than dumping. From the perspective of world welfare, defined by aggregating the welfare of the trading countries (DC and LDC), the trade damage measure of imposing antidumping fines on LDC dumping is Pareto-improving compared to free trade (under which dumping takes place) and price-undertakings.

This paper challenges the widespread view that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) provides the most advanced rules for regulating China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It argues that compared to China’s existing World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, particularly those specifically tailored to it, the CPTPP SOE chapter does not provide more rigorous or workable rules but rather has narrower applications and more carve-outs. More recent US/EU free trade agreements (FTAs) are largely based on the CPTPP SOE chapter. While these FTAs also seek to address some deficiencies in the CPTPP SOE chapter and gradually expand the rules on subsidies and SOEs, the expanded rules are balanced by the inclusion of extensive exceptions. This balanced approach may be used to facilitate multilateral negotiations of SOE rules, but if this approach is adopted, WTO Members will need to be prepared to negotiate with China on replacing the potentially very broad and rigid China-specific WTO rules with more balanced new rules that apply to all members. The likely consequence would be softer rather than stronger disciplines on Chinese SOEs.

Substantial tariff reductions and increased usage of non-tariff measures (NTMs) have been key dynamics of global trade policy in recent decades. We use highly disaggregated data on tariffs, NTMs, and trade to investigate how IMF conditionality as a form of external pressure to reduce tariffs contributed to this dynamic in developing countries. Our results show that tariff conditionality was an effective tool in reducing tariffs without increasing the usage of NTMs. Furthermore, we show that tariff conditionality was more effective in initiating tariff cuts for countries without greater globalization efforts previously, rather than being a “catalyst” for ongoing liberalization efforts.

The weak global GDP growth since the financial crisis in 2007-2009 has coincided with unusually weak growth in global trade. Organisations that monitor international macro-economic development have identified growing protectionism – not least the increase in non-tariff barriers to trade, such as local regulations or subsidies – as a potential cause of the weaker growth in global trade. Non-tariff barriers to trade are a significant element of countries’ trade policies and may often be more harmful than tariff trade barriers. In particular, technical trade barriers and other administrative costs that export companies encounter can inhibit trade. The number of initiated and introduced technical trade barriers increased at the beginning of the financial crisis. Both initiated and introduced technical trade barriers have since remained at high levels. At the same time, the number of international health and safety requirements for food, animal and vegetable products has increased. The average global tariff level has decreased somewhat since the mid- 2000s, which is in contrast to the strong increase in various non-tariff barriers to trade. However, according to a report by Global Trade Alert, since the financial crisis the number of policy measures that restrict trade has increased significantly faster than the number of policy measures that liberalise trade. Research shows that protectionist measures affect international trade negatively. There is thus good reason to believe that the sharp increase in non-tariff barriers in recent years is an important contributing factor to the weaker growth in global trade.

We show that the specific factors model can be used to derive a rigorous link between movements in stock prices and productivity, wages, employment, output, and welfare. We also prove that the commonly used measure of the effective rate of protection equals the dual measure of revenue TFP, providing a theoretical foundation for why many studies have found that trade liberalization significantly increases firm-level productivity. Our method enables us to trace a tariff announcement's effect on TFP through its impact on macro variables (e.g., exchange rates) and through its effect on the relative prices of imports. We apply this framework to understanding the implications of the U.S.-China trade war. Our results show that the trade-war announcements caused large declines in U.S. stock prices, expected TFP, and expected inflation largely by moving macro variables, but also by causing declines in the returns of firms trading with China. We find that markets expect the trade war to lower U.S. welfare by 7.8 percentage points, which is much larger than the predictions of static models but in line with those of dynamic models. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

This study proposes to evaluate the negative impact of COVID-19 on international trade exchange worldwide. Hence, we offer a new methodology is called the "The Trade Emancipation Evaluation Methodology (TEE-Methodology)." There are four primary phases in the implementation of TEE-Methodology. The first phase is designing a multi-input export database table by the production sector (agriculture, heavy industry, light industry, and services). The second phase is the measurement of the trade emancipation index by the production sector (αi). Hence, TEE-Methodology proposes to divide each production sector by: (i) the agriculture trade emancipation index (α1); (ii) heavy industry trade emancipation index (α2); (iii) light industry trade emancipation index (α3); (iv) services trade emancipation index (α4). The third phase is the measurement of the trade emancipation coverage (TEC) Index. The last phase is the measurement of the trade emancipation level (TEL) index. The general objective of applying the TEE-Methodology is to evaluate how the COVID-19 affects large and small countries' production and exports in the short run. TEE-Methodology does not intend to be a forecasting model in any case. TEE-Methodology, in effect, is a flexible and straightforward simulator, which can apply to any issue of trade emancipation that is originated from COVID-19.

One of the external functions usually performed by entities effectively controlling a geographically defined area is the conduct of cross-border trade. To conduct international trade, entities that are recognised by the international community as sovereign States, or groups of such entities that form customs unions and free trade areas having legal personality under public international law, enter into treaties in the form of trade agreements that regulate the terms for the conduct of trade to and from those areas. However, there are also de facto independent regimes controlling geographically defined areas that, although not recognised as States by the international community, nevertheless conduct trade with States, to the extent they are not subject to trade sanctions or embargoes. In international trade law, these territories are usually termed ‘separate customs territories’, to distinguish them from sovereign States. These territories – topoi of ambiguity – are physical places whose status under public international law is (or has been) ambiguous, disputed, in flux, sui generis, or in any way unusual. This chapter is part of a wider research project whose aim is to systematically investigate on the basis of precedent the legal rules and practices by which de facto independent regimes, of which ‘separate customs territories’ as understood in international trade law form part, conduct cross-border trade and the ways in which States and international organisations react to these. The idea is to try to discern the public international law principles, legal rules, historical realities, or functionalist arguments – the notional places in international trade law that deal with the physical topoi to which topoi of ambiguity also alludes – that underpin the de jure or de facto territorial application of international trade rules to de facto independent regimes. Put simply, the question that I try to shed light on is why notions and requirements of statehood are decoupled from issues of the territorial application of the rules in the field of international trade law.

Adam Smith’s economic system followed his philosophical convictions. The policy conclusions came before the analysis. To support his policy of Free Trade, or rather, the ‘system of liberty’, Adam Smith gradually built up his economic system , from the Lectures on Jurisprudence to the Wealth of Nations. In the process, he had to exorcise the impact of unemployment. This paper shows how Smith was enabled to come to such a conclusion. Smith argued that employment was set by technology and prior capital accumulation. Even if Government wished to do so, it could not increase aggregate employment. Much of the paper concerns the various ways in which Smith made such an argument plausible. It also shows how Smith is related to the general equilibrium models of today.

Territoriality is one of the important principles of trademark law; however, the principle of territoriality is problematic and leads to many conflicts in the era of globalized trade and e-commerce. The European Union (EU) and Switzerland have a doctrine of maximalist protection of Indications of Geographical Origin (IGOs) via public orchestrated registers that defy the territoriality principle. The EU and Switzerland face concomitant problems to promote rural development and authentic quality products based on their terroir. In contrast, the US and other New World countries are harnessing their existing trademark systems to protect IGOs and further innovation. US and other New World countries are also letting products with generic geographical names compete in their home and international markets. Specificity, protecting a sign only for designated goods or services, is another important principle of trademark law that can be and has been criticized. Without specificity, non-competitors would not be allowed to erode or tarnish the distinctiveness of a sign, no matter whether it is a trademark or IGO. The Geographical Indications (GI) provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) are the legal result of a political compromise between Old and New World countries. Where the two camps did not succeed multilaterally, they each have pursued their policy aspirations within their national jurisdiction and internationally via Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and specialized bilateral IGO agreements. In 2019, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), one of the most important growth markets for IGOs, signed a specific IGO agreement with the EU, and in 2020 an FTA with the US which includes preferential IGO-related provisions. These recent normative developments suggest that the PRC’s IGO obligations are being rearranged. Combining the best of both systems, could create vital hybrids that could lead the way to new IGO standards for a future multilateral IGO agreement.

International relations are ire interdisciplinary in the nature of this world as they blend with fields of political science, history, and economics in the examination of topics regarding global poverty, human rights, globalization, the political environment, and economics. Free trade is an engine of growth as it keeps on increasing on the global scale thus making it a significant contributor to the economic growth of a state. States which enact free trade policies can create their own economic dynamism, which allows them to foster increased opportunities and freedom for every individual. The governing on states highly relies on good international relations with other nations in a correlating manner where both parties may benefit immensely. Free trade is an essential factor in maintaining affirmative international relations among states, thus the dire need for states to pursue it.

This paper develops and analyzes a model of international trade comprising multiproduct firms that can produce a range of product varieties distinguished by quality. First, it analyses the within-firm distribution of product quality and argues that firms’ export decisions are sensitive to their sizes and their product quality level. Specifically, a firm successfully exports both its high-end products and low-end products. Also, the sales of its top-end products relative to sales of its lower-end products is sensitive to the extent to which effective labour costs rise with quality. Second, the paper explores the heterogeneous effects of trade liberalization on multi-product firm behaviour and quality range choices. Under trade liberalization, small domestic firms experience a shrinkage of their product quality range, while even the new small-sized exporters narrow their product quality range to focus on an export variety. In contrast, existing exporters (large firms) can compete on both price and quality under trade liberalization by expanding their export product range toward both the low-end and high-end varieties. There is a greater expansion toward the lower-end varieties relative to the higher-end varieties under trade liberalization, this relative expansion decreasing as the variable trade cost decreases.

This paper shows that bilateral currency crises reduce bilateral trade up to 50% after controlling for the depreciation rate. Using a trade model, these reductions are connected to the welfare costs of currency crises. The results show that a single currency crisis can result in welfare reductions through changes in international trade corresponding to more than 10% (and up to 41%) of the costs of autarky for 23 different currency crisis episodes between 1960 and 2014. These welfare costs are also shown to be greater than the welfare gains from having free trade agreements and using common currencies for 25 different currency crisis episodes.

The government of Quebec should formally propose to the governments of neighboring American states (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT, NJ, NY, PA, IL, IN, MI, OH, WI, DE, MD, WV, KY) and the provinces of eastern Canada (NL, NS, NB, ON) an integrated common market in electricity with appropriate commonly owned and shared interconnections and regulatory institutions allowing effective, efficient, transparent and fluid exchanges. The important technological complementarities between the regional production capacities and technologies and the high value added of integration, in particular with the massive arrival of renewable but intermittent energies, are likely to create a win-win situation for all participants. But the game is not only complex, but also demands from the regional leaders, Premiers and Governors, a long-term vision based on strategic complementarities and open competition. Major enabling features revolve around opening the ownership structure of regional producers, integrating the independent system operators (ISO), implementing appropriate mechanisms to adequately face the “not in my backyard (NIMBY)” syndrome.

Least developed countries (LDC) receive specific international support measures and preferential market access to high-income countries. Graduation from the LDC status is based upon consistent economic and human capital performance. Graduation is appealing for LDC countries as it signals economic stability and business confidence to new investments. However, there is concern that graduation may affect the economic prospects of the graduating country by ceasing to benefit from LDC-specific support measures and market access. This study addresses this issue by assessing the potential economic effects of losing LDC-specific preferential market access and receiving investment inflows on candidate-graduating-countries over the coming decade. We find that the loss of preferential market access will not adversely affect the majority of the graduating countries. The overall economic impacts are influenced by the degree of their economies’ diversification, reliance on trade, and their bilateral and free trade agendas. Moreover, graduating countries could realise significant economic welfare gains if their investment inflows expand. Our estimates suggest that varying levels of investment are required to offset the removal of preferential market access. We conclude that LDC graduating countries should pursue negotiations of free trade agreements and regional economic cooperation, and diversification of their exports and their destination markets.

The US tariff code stands as a barrier to reviving the US economy as it begins to recover from the coronavirus shutdown. Mounting evidence shows that statutory tariffs and the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration since 2018 are compounding the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 virus and are complicating the efforts of consumers and healthcare providers to access medical supplies. Executive action can mitigate some of the harm, but the US Constitution and the scope of the problem require congressional action. Such action should be taken unilaterally by the US government in its own national interest regardless of what actions other nations pursue. This paper recommends the establishment of a Tariff Reform Commission to enable Congress to overcome special-interest opposition to trade liberalization. The commission would be patterned after the successful Base Realignment and Closure process and Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process. It would follow the proven path taken by other nations that have unilaterally liberalized their trade policies.

This paper investigates the impact of import liberalization induced labor demand shocks on male and female employment in China. Combining data from population and firm censuses between 1990 and 2005, we relate prefecture-level employment by gender to the exposure to tariff reductions on locally imported products. Our empirical results show that increasing import competition has kept more females in the workforce, reducing an otherwise growing gender employment gap in the long run. These dynamics were present both in local economies as a whole and among formal private industrial firms. Examining channels through which tariff reductions differentially affect males and females, we find that trade-induced competitive pressures contributed to a general expansion of female-intensive industries, a shift in sectoral gender segregation, reductions in gender discrimination in the labor market, technological upgrading through computerization, and general income growth.

The first decades of the 21st century have been characterized by the growth of digital trade fueled by new business models based on cross-border data flows. With data taking a central role in the digital economy, governments and their constituents have become increasingly concerned about the commercial handling and commoditization of personal data. Consequently, governments have entered the business of regulating cross-border data flows, especially with the aim of protecting the privacy of their citizens. This regulatory trend does not occur in a vacuum: the World Trade Organization (WTO) through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) regulates the types of measures and treatment that governments may adopt regarding foreign providers of digital services. Further, several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) include electronic commerce or digital trade chapters establishing obligations regarding cross-border data flows. This paper focuses on cross-border data flows restrictions aimed at protecting privacy and the assessment of their WTO-consistency. This perspective covers a broader range of measures and offers a more comprehensive understanding of privacy regulations before trade fora than the existing literature does. In particular, this paper draws attention to the assessment of privacy-based restrictions under the GATS exceptions and argues that the necessity test and chapeau requirements will prove critical in any future adjudication over complaints against a country’s policies restricting crossborder data transfers. This analysis highlights that the linkage between trade and privacy will continue to intensify and that this linkage will be further shaped by countries being taken to court.

China’s growing prominence as a trade superpower has placed competitive pressure on manufacturing industries in Brazil, while simultaneously bolstering demand for its commodities. We investigate the effects of this so-called manufactures-for-commodities boom on Brazilian birth outcomes from 2000-2010. Exploiting exogenous variation in patterns of trade growth with China across different regions within Brazil, we find that both import and export growth led to higher birth weights for babies, lower infant mortality, and lower birth rates. Additional evidence is consistent with income effects playing a role in explaining our results, while ruling out better provision of healthcare and changes to household composition as mechanisms. We also find that negative import shocks reduced fertility rates across all age groups for women, suggesting that selectivity in births induced by negative income shocks, combined with concentration of household resources on the children that are born led to better infant health outcomes. We also explore changes in trade-induced pollution levels and social assistance programs as a potential mechanism. Our findings indicate that increased import and export growth can improve infant health, highlighting another potential benefit from trade liberalization.