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The gross value of Australia's agriculture industry in 2001/2002 was A$38.4 billion with 65% allocated to exports. The major exports markets are South East Asia, Japan, USA, and the EU. Products include wool, beef, wheat, cotton, sugar, and wine. For Australia there have been significant changes over time in markets and production arrangements in the international arena. This is also true of the domestic market especially in the area of meat products. Australians, once dominant red meat eaters, have now ‘gone chicken.’ The total yearly consumption of meats averages around 110 kg per person. Beef up until recent years has always been the dominant player. However, in the last 30 years chicken consumption has risen from being a marginal food item to being a product that is expected to eclipse beef consumption in the very near future. This paper explores the trends and examines the changes as they are reflected by the behaviour of consumers and market chain drivers. The paper provides suggestions that could he gainfully employed at the consumer behaviour levels for other meat producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Since 2010, the export resraints of rare earth in China have been of great concern in the world. On March 13, 2012, the United States( U. S.) , the European Union(EU) and Japan requested consultations with China with respect to China's export restraints of rare earth, tungsten and molybdenum ("Rare Earth Case"). Although the export restraints of rare earth are similar in essence to the disputed measures related to the export restraints on various raw materials in 2009, namely the competition between China and other WTO members, the specific forms of restraints have been developed. Combining to the WTO rules and latest dispute settlements, this paper makes an in-depth study of the dispute triggered by rare earth and tries to propose some countermeasures in attempt to provide resolution for the Rare Earth Case and safeguard legitimate interests of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes the marine fish and invertebrate consumption in three of the world’s major seafood markets (the EU, Japan and the USA) using a series of global maps indicating the likely origin of the seafood consumed by each market. These maps display a high level of dependence by these markets on foreign sources as the serial depletion of local fisheries resources forced the fleets in search for new seafood supplies well beyond their domestic waters. The acquisition of foreign (and high seas) seafood by these markets is conducted through two channels: by dispatching distant water fishing fleets that directly exploit foreign stocks; and by importing catch landed elsewhere by local fleets. The results also demonstrate that each of the three major markets occupies a zone of influence within which it is dominant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are US exports different from China's exports? If so, how? This article attempts to answer this question, using product-level manufacturing import data from Japan. To make the comparison clear, this article also examines exports from the EU. The results indicate that more than 85 per cent and 83 per cent of products exported by the US and the EU, respectively, to Japan are also commonly exported from China. Both the US and the EU export products are priced higher than China's export products, regardless of industries. This result suggests that quality differences matter in explaining the high overlap of China's export products with US and EU export products. In some industries, however, the price differences of US and EU exports relative to China's exports are relatively small. This result implies that either Chinese firms are upgrading the quality of their products, or US and EU firms are improving their efficiencies such that they can compete with Chinese firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use fitted values from a standard gravity equation to rank countries as possible U.S. free trade agreement partners based on trade and investment potential. The European Union and Japan are ranked highest based on this methodology and individual Bush administration FTA initiatives generally generally are ranked very low. However, the combined affects of completed and proposed Bush FTAs have the potential to rank almost as high as the EU and Japan separately. This result is consistent with the view that, despite widespread criticism of the Bush administration's choices of FTA partners, the overall impact may be significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaggregated trade data are used to examine changing trade patterns for five developed economic regions: the USA, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Japan. This study covers the 1980-1997 time period, during which international trade for most goods faced less border protection. Changing trade patterns are found for the USA, Japan, and the EU, while persistent trade patterns are observed for Australia and Canada. Classifying goods into four groups, trade patterns found in manufactured goods were the most dynamic, and trade in bulk agricultural goods the most persistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the great paradoxes of international economic relations is the ongoing inability of two closely knit allies, the United States and the European Union, to jointly formulate and apply a common strategy to redress their trade grievances with Japan--grievances similar both in content and in the longstanding failure to resolve them. This article examines empirically the differences in the European and American trade strategies toward Japan and offers four explanations for the manifestation of this major gap in transatlantic economic cooperation. In most cases, these explanations reveal more about divergent economic ideology, mutual antagonisms, and different pressures on decision makers within the United States and the European Union than about Japan. Despite the unlikely prospect of the obstacles precluding a common Japan strategy being fully overcome, this article concludes with suggestions for achieving at least limited EU-U.S. cooperation in pursuit of common goats with the third leg of the international economic "triad." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]