Impact and Implications of International Trade Agreements

Impact and Implications of International Trade Agreements It also requires from its signatories to extend most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to other trading partners participating in the WTO. MFN status means that each WTO member receives the same tariff treatment for its goods in foreign markets as that extended to the â€Å"most-favoured† country competing in the same market, and in consequence eliminating any possible preferences or discriminatory activities. In 1995 the GATT became the World Trade Organization (WTO), which now encompasses more than 140 member countries, oversees four important international trade agreements: the GATT, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights and trade-related investment, which are called respectively TRIPS and TRIMS. Furthermore, GATT permits the formation of free trade areas and customs unions among WTO members. Free trade areas are characterized by elimination of all of tariffs on trade with each of the member countries, with simultaneously remaining autonomous in terms of determining their tariffs with non-members. One of the examples for such an area is included in the objectives of European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which is composed primarily of Scandinavian countries. A customs union constitutes a group of countries that eliminate all tariffs on trade among themselves but maintain a common external tariff on trade with countries outside the union. A good example of a formation of a customs union was the European Economic Community (EC) that came into force with the Treaty of Rome signed in 1957 by France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux. The Treaty provided for the establishment of a common market, a customs union and common policies[1]. Nowadays it is known as the European Union (EU), it includes twenty-seven European countries and it has gone beyond simply reducing barriers to trade among member states and forming a customs union. EU has achieved its greater economic integration by becoming a common market, which coordinates and harmonizes each country’s tax, industrial and agricultural policies. Many members have also formed a single currency area by replacing their domestic currencies with the euro. Nevertheless, many trade agreements not including duty reduction schemes are later on completed with the objective to arrange an FTA in the future. In cases of agreements including non WTO members, it is usually specified in the agreement that MFN rates will (continue to) be applied. Among many agreements without duty reduction schemes we can enumerate, for instance, the already mentioned Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIT), which set forth actionable standards of conduct that applies to the nation’s government in their treatment of foreign investors, including i.a. fair and equitable treatment, protection from expropriation and free transfer of means with full protection and security[2]. The amount of signed BIT’s has been constantly increasing, since 1990s from 446 signed agreements to over 2500 active BITs in 2007, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)[3]. To other agreements without duty reduction schemes we can include Foreign In vestment and Protection Agreements (FIPA), Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), Economic Framework Agreement, or Partnership Cooperation Agreement. The growing trend of signing international trade agreements is irreversible in any region of the globe, and is becoming a dominant factor influencing immensely all of the international economic relations nowadays. The more of them are signed, the more urgent the need to assess their actual impact. Thus, it is crucial to correctly evaluate the potential impact of the agreements, especially during theirs negotiation phase. In the recent years there has been a large demand for impact assessment studies of trade agreements, both before and after negotiations. Conducting solid studies concerning their impact is considered to be particularly important for developing countries, because they need to adjust their policies in a way to diminish or completely avoid the possible negative effects and maximize potential benefits. Nevertheless, accurate impact assessment methodology it is not easy from the technical point of view, mainly because of the lack of economic theories which specialize in d eveloping countries. Thus, due to insufficient appropriate knowledge and support, it is difficult for the governments of developing countries to conduct a relevant policy from the economic studies[4]. Furthermore, in conducting an impact assessment analysis of the International Trade agreements it is important to be able to evaluate all of the potential gains, difficulties and implications. Economic theory since the middle of the 18th century has implied numerous advantages in lowering tariffs for most parties in most situations, and economists view the commitment to trade liberalisation as a welfare-maximizing pursuit. The main gain from trade was considered to derive from specialization on the basis of comparative advantage. Income is considered to be growing more rapidly in countries open to international trade than in those more closed to trade. This phenomenon is dramatically illustrated in China’s rapid growth after 1978, and India’s after 1991. These dates indicating when major trade reforms took place in those countries[5]. However we have to keep in mind, that although trade liberalisation in the form of international trade agreements may contribute to the overall national welfare, it is also responsible for disruptive consequences within societies by producing losers and gainers, such as import-competing industries and consumers respectively. Besides economic gains and losses, trade agreements also provide important political outcomes to the parties involved, as a consequence of facilitated international cooperation, institutionalized rules of reciprocity, monitoring and enforcement. It is especially important in terms of conducting impact assessment analyses of trade agreements for developing countries as I have previously written, for which they constitute an important institutional context within which they can build up their coalitions and improve their bargaining position in the global market. Moreover, developing countries prefer more defined rules and greater enforcement capacity. The main reason for this is the fear of marginalization or peripherality, namely the inability of developing countries to take advantage of trade liberalisation and emerging as full players in the international system[6]. Due to their international as well as domestic weaknesses, usually caused by their colonial past, these countries are more of the rule-takers rather than agenda-setters. As an illustration, countries like Brazil and India despite taking part in many negotiations they have repeatedly complained about their concerns being disregarded. The same applies to smaller d eveloping countries which have found it difficult to even take part in key decision making meetings. In addition, there even exist a phenomenon called â€Å"Third World Schizophrenia†, which was used by Mohammed Ayoob in his article â€Å"The Third World in the System of States: Acute Schizophrenia or Growing Pains?†[7] It illustrates the behaviour of developing countries trying to bring about systemic changes and aiming at adjusting to an international order, but as a result of their vulnerabilities and their past they also have the incentive to preserve the existing system of rules that ensures their very survival. As a consequence of these two pressures, decision-making centres of these countries are faced with conflicting demands, and thus this situation is referred to either as schizophrenic, or similar to the growing pains of adolescence. International trade agreements and the liberalisation process that follows them, besides being economically beneficial, it is also very often politically feasible. Due to the fact that some countries are legally binded by multilateral trade organizations and agreements, their lack of commitment may have punitive consequences of various types, depending on the nature of the agreement and its enforcement mechanism. Thus, governments tend to hide behind the possible consequences of lack of obedience that could range from the international disapproval to compensation of all the costs incurred as a result of this country’s actions. By claiming that their international commitments bind them to act freely, they are able to justify especially unpopular actions that are supposed to have longer-term benefits, and not solely in trade manners. This is why many of the programmes of economic and restructuralization reforms from the 1980s and 1990s, in particular those involving both controv ersial and possible distributive consequences for the society, were hidden in the shadow of international economic agreements and organizations[8]. Thus, it comes as no surprise that historically, countries have been reluctant to reduce trade barriers and enthusiastic to raise them, even though the classical trade theory states that gains from trade accrue to any country that lowers their trade barriers, irrespectively of what other countries do. Despite this promise of economic benefits coming from free trade, many states have chosen the path of protectionism throughout history. An example can be found in the case of the Great Depression period, when following the stock market crash of 1929, the US Congress adopted the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act in 1930 that raised US tariffs to an average of nearly 60% interest[9]. Explanation of this behaviour comes from the economic theory and the notion of â€Å"optimal tariff†, which tells us that it may be in the interest of a large economy to restrict trade at a certain â€Å"optimal† level, as it will be a change of the terms of trade in its favour. This obviously does not apply to small economies, for which liberalisation of trade or lack of it may bring different results, conditioned by many economic, political and social factors. For large economies this situation looks different, thus the optimal tariff may appear as a good solution to some of them. However, is it really an efficient one? The interpretation of this problem in terms of the game theory would imply that even though it is in each country’s interest to impose restrictions, the outcome of such action might be inefficient, especially in the long-term calculation. Once one large country will impose restrictions, the other might as well follow this behaviour, which would result in the overall decrease of global market efficiency and economic welfare. Thus, the best way of preventing such a mutually destructive situation from happening is by ensuring mutual reciprocity in trade commitments, which increases the economic gains as well as the output. In any case, mutual reciprocity being a foundation for most of the concluded trade agreements all over the world does not always guarantee their success. Multilateral trade agreements and organisations, such as the WTO, have been accused of inefficiency due to the problem with maintaining and extending the liberal world trading system, slow pace of trade liberalisation negotiations, and inadequate requirements for consensus among the members, which immensely limits the possible scope of reform of trade agreements. Moreover, some sectors such as trade in agriculture, textiles and apparel have not experienced any significant cuts in tariffs, and thus they had much less success, especially in comparison with, for instance, industrial goods. According to UNCTAD data, non duty-free trade still faces an average tariff of about 7% in manufacturing and about 18% in agriculture. All these arguments have raised many concerns, and in consequence many countries have turned away from the multilateral process toward more preferential agreements such as bilateral, or regional ones. An example of such an agreement is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which went into effect in January 1994. Under its terms United States, Canada and Mexico collectively agreed to phase out all tariffs on merchandise trade and to reduce restrictions on service trade as well as foreign investment over a decade[10]. Besides that there exist numerous trade agreements between particular countries, or group of countries, and their number is constantly increasing. It has been particularly observed in terms of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). As of early 2014, there were more than 300 PTAs in force, about half of which also covered services. In 2013, almost half of world trade was taking place between countries that had signed a PTA and almost a third was regulated by deep trade agreements[11]. This increase in PTAs is mostly attributed to the greater promotion of trade among the parties that are signing a PTA, but it is also a good alternative for countries when multilateral negotiations run into difficulties. Moreover, it contributes to the emergence of â€Å"competitive liberalisation†, wherein countries are challenged to reduce trade barriers to keep up with the rest of the world. For instance, after NAFTA was signed and implemented, the EU aimed at signing an FTA with Mexico, in order to ensure that European goods would not be at a competitive disadvantage in the Mexican market. On the other hand, there are still many disadvantages associated with PTAs, such as discriminatory exclusion of certain countries, or the inability to reform certain issues, such as agricultural export subsidies on the bilateral or regional level[12]. Predominantly, it appears that international trade is increasingly more regulated and influenced by policies and instruments reaching beyond tariffs. As of 2013, technical measures and requirements coming from free trade liberalization and international trade agreements regulated about two-thirds of the world trade[13]. Both multilateral and preferential agreements will remain the future of the global economy, shaping its flows and regulating the distribution of wealth. There will always be pressures to include more standards and regulations, and there will always be those that argue that such agreements serve the interests of multinational corporations and not regular citizens. Nevertheless, keeping in mind that free trade contributes to the transfer of technology and knowledge, which is especially important for the developing countries in terms of improved economic welfare, we can not simply despise this concept without accurately evaluating all of its losses and gains. Internation al trade agreements do provide us with a greater measure of certainty in international relations, and they do provide developing countries with one of the few safeguards that they have against the powerful high-income countries. However, it is safe to say that they will continue to generate controversy, and there will always be an intense public discussion surrounding them, and the impact they make. [1] Europa, Summaries of EU legislation. Available from: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treaties_eec_en.htm>. [6 January 2015]. [2] Legal Information Institute, Bilateral investment treaty. Available from: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/bilateral_investment_treaty>. [6 January 2015]. [3] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Quantitative data on bilateral investment treaties and double taxation treaties. Available from: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/DIAE/International Investment Agreements (IIA)/Quantitative-data-on-bilateral-investment-treaties-and-double-taxation-treaties.aspx>. [6 January 2015]. [4] Plummer M. G., Cheong D., Hamanaka S., ‘Methodology for Impact Assessment of Free Trade Agreements’, Asian Development Bank 2010, pp. 7-9. [5] Library of Economics and Liberty, International Trade Agreements. Available from: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/InternationalTradeAgreements.html>. [6 January 2015]. [6] Narlikar A., ‘The World Trade Organization: A Very Short Introduction’, Oxford University Press Inc., New York 2005, pp. 7-8. [7] Ayoob M. ‘The Third World in the System of States: Acute Schizophrenia or Growing Pains?’, International Studies Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 1, 1989, pp. 67-79. [8] Narlikar A., ‘The World Trade Organization: A Very Short Introduction’, Oxford University Press Inc., New York 2005, pp. 6-7. [9] Narlikar A., ‘The World Trade Organization: A Very Short Introduction’, Oxford University Press Inc., New York 2005, pp. 3-7. [10] Library of Economics and Liberty, International Trade Agreements. Available from: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/InternationalTradeAgreements.html>. [6 January 2015]. [11] ‘Key Statistics and Trends in Trade Policy 2014’, Trade Analysis Branch (TAB), Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC), UNCTAD Secretariat, pp. 10-11. [12] Library of Economics and Liberty, International Trade Agreements. Available from: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/InternationalTradeAgreements.html>. [6 January 2015]. [13] ‘Key Statistics and Trends in Trade Policy 2014’, Trade Analysis Branch (TAB), Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC), UNCTAD Secretariat, pp. 10-11.

The Yellow Wallpaper -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vintage short stories are meant to entertain their readers. However, many passive readers miss the true entertainment that lies within the story in the hidden context. Most short stories have, embedded in the writing, a lesson or theme attached to them. In the short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† Gilman demonstrates a woman who has suffered from repression and longs for the freedom from her controlling husband. Gender conflicts play a major role throughout this story. The author portrays these kinds of conflicts through the three main characters, John, Jennie and the narrator. The theme of this story is a woman's fall into insanity resulting from isolation from treatment of post-partum depression. Gilman is also telling the story of how women were thought of as prisoners by the demands of the society throughout that time period. She also expresses the punishments these women had when they tried to break free. As a reader, we see how much control John h ad over her and how it ended up affecting her individuality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† writes about her experience in dealing with depression. As a result her husband, a physician, decided that it would be a good idea for them to take a trip to the country for the summer where she could get the rest and isolation that she needs. In the beginning the woman becomes increasingly unhappy as she is forced to occupy a room that she despises. She describes the wal... The Yellow Wallpaper -- essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vintage short stories are meant to entertain their readers. However, many passive readers miss the true entertainment that lies within the story in the hidden context. Most short stories have, embedded in the writing, a lesson or theme attached to them. In the short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† Gilman demonstrates a woman who has suffered from repression and longs for the freedom from her controlling husband. Gender conflicts play a major role throughout this story. The author portrays these kinds of conflicts through the three main characters, John, Jennie and the narrator. The theme of this story is a woman's fall into insanity resulting from isolation from treatment of post-partum depression. Gilman is also telling the story of how women were thought of as prisoners by the demands of the society throughout that time period. She also expresses the punishments these women had when they tried to break free. As a reader, we see how much control John h ad over her and how it ended up affecting her individuality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† writes about her experience in dealing with depression. As a result her husband, a physician, decided that it would be a good idea for them to take a trip to the country for the summer where she could get the rest and isolation that she needs. In the beginning the woman becomes increasingly unhappy as she is forced to occupy a room that she despises. She describes the wal...

Globalization and its Principal Outcomes Essay

Globalization mainly concentrates on trade and commerce between nations and creates a global market, in which goods and services easily flow from one nation to another, without any barrier. All the countries would equally share the production resources and allow the free movement of resources between them, in the global community. The African countries have always been exporting raw materials like minerals and agricultural produce, which are utilized in the production sector of the Western markets. They do not have any significant production facilities; hence they have to borrow, in order to import manufactured goods. The Western markets employ trade tariffs and other such economic stratagems to drastically reduce the price of these imports from these African nations, while increasing the cost of the exports to these countries. The result is that the African nations suffer from a balance of payments problem (Mutethia, 2000). Globalization has both advantages and disadvantages. Some of its advantages are enhanced productivity, low interest rates and a low rate of global inflation. It not only provides a high level of protection to economies, but it also promotes inequality of income. This has been evident in the developments around the world. There is increased disparity in income and an imposition of protectionist approaches in the developed nations. Globalization eliminates national borders and permits the free flow of services and goods from one nation to another. It provides greater opportunities to developing nations to widen their market area and enter the global market. However, this type of open trade is unsuited to poor nations (Tompkins & Harmelink, 2004. P. 34). Liberalisation is the main component of globalization, and constitutes its first and foremost condition. Advocates of globalization argue that the state’s role must be limited to security and defence. In all other aspects, the state must play a subordinate role. As such, many of the developing nations have autocratic rule, and there is abuse of power and office by government officials. Moreover, these countries do not adopt proper economic management. All these factors contribute to their underdevelopment. Therefore, countries with these characteristics cannot meet the challenges posed by globalization. Thus, liberalisation, in all aspects, is the prerequisite for the success of globalization. However, rapid liberalisation would only cause harm rather than benefit (Africa News, February 18, 2007). According to Stiglitz globalization is a process that is unsuitable for poor nations. It does not promote the stability of the global economy. He also added that the first to fall prey to globalization would be the developing economies. The poor in these nations would become poorer, and the disparity in power across the globe would be perpetuated. The principal financial institutions that engender this process are the IMF and the World Bank. These institutions, characteristically lack transparency in their dealings and they are controlled by the developed world (Ehrlich & Ehrlich, 2004. P. 327). The less developed countries experienced a reduction in the restrictions placed on the financial and trade markets in the beginning of the 1980’s. These changes served to engender greater political freedom in these countries. This extraordinary process of globalization can be assumed to improve the democratic systems of governance (Rudra, Oct, 2005). Developing countries suffer from the unequal power distribution brought about by globalization. At present the world is experiencing a number of adverse effects due to globalization. These effects are not limited to the developing and poor nations; and they are also being experienced by most of the developed nations. That is the power of globalization (Kaur, October 12, 2007 ; Pg. 25 ). At present, these nations are experiencing the adverse effects of globalization. Under the globalization policy, there should not be any restrictions on free trade. However, in practice this policy is not followed by many nations. For instance, African agricultural produce is subjected to severe restrictions in the western markets. The latter impose heavy tariffs on the African produce in order to protect their own industries within their nations. These are protectionist pressures, created by globalization. Therefore, globalization has failed to ensure the free movement of goods and fair competition (Africa News, February 18, 2007). A significant number of people continue to argue that globalization ushers in negative outcomes for the world. Its effect has been to render the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is the claim of economists that globalization brings about more benefits for all. However, the poor are neglected in this process, as they could not get a fair share of the profits generated by globalization. It is important to note that social security and other governmental policies could be instrumental in reversing the negative outcomes of globalization, and eliminate inequality and poverty in the developing nations. Some of the other tools that promote a fairer system of cooperation are fair trade and patent laws (Sen, April 27, 2007, Pg. 14). The chief objective of globalization is to implement a world order that benefits the capitalists. It is naive to assume that globalization is nothing more than an increase in worldwide mutual interlinking, brought about by technological change and market forces. A number of countries of the world have been afflicted with financial crises, which have served to highlight the ills of globalization. List of References Africa News.(February 18, 2007). Rwanda; Is Globalisation Another Form of Imperialism? The New Times . Ehrlich, P. R. , & Ehrlich, A. H. (2004. P. 327). One with Nineveh. Island Press. Kaur, H. (October 12, 2007 ; Pg. 25 ). The rich, too, begin to feel globalisation pinch. New Straits Times (Malaysia) . Mutethia, J. (2000, August 15). Africa and Globalization. Retrieved October 21, 2008, from Global Policy Forum: http://www. globalpolicy. org/socecon/develop/africa/glob. htm Rudra, N. (Oct, 2005). Globalization and the Strengthening of Democracy in the Developing

Breast Implantsthe Dow Corning Scandal Essay - 2372 Words

Abstract The subject of my paper will be an investigation into the manufacture of silicone breast implants by Dow Corning and what caused this scandal to become corporate crime. This subject is of special interest to me because my mother has been in litigation with Dow Corning since the late 1980s. I will use several research methods for development of this research paper. They will include researching books and the use of the internet. I believe that my findings will show that for more than thirty years Dow Corning manufactured and distributed an unsafe product with the knowledge that its recipients were being put in danger. Dow Corning then tried various evasive measures to escape from their liability. This is still a current†¦show more content†¦The first use of silicone was as a sealant for ignition systems on aircraft in World War II (Zimmermann, 1998, p. 22). It was in Japan after World War II that a Japanese doctor first began injecting womens breasts with silicone to enlarge them. Women often complained of serious complications after silicone injections including scarring, swelling, gangrene, infections and migrations of silicone to various other parts of their body (Zimmermann, 1998, p. 23). The beginning of Dow Corning`s fraudulent and immoral actions actually started during this time when actual silicone breast implants had not even been developed and only the injection of silicone into womens breasts was being done. In 1954, Dow Corning found that silica in silicone had a high order of toxicity and they were informed by scientist H.C. Spenser that silicone caused health problems and by scientist V.K. Rowe in 1955 that silicone spreads throughout the body and could cause organ damage (Melvin, 2003). One can see that Dow Corning knew as early as the mid-1950s that silicone could be a source of health problems and potentially unsafe, but even with that knowledge Dow Corning moved in the next stage of silicone enhancement of breasts, the actual manufacture of silicone breast implants. In the 1960sShow MoreRelatedEthics of Penn Square and Dow Corning Essay1652 Words   |  7 PagesEthics of Penn Square and Dow Corning Ethics of Penn Square Bank and the Dow Corning Bankruptcy Penn Square Bank: What were the ethical pressures on the firm concerning documentation, credit extension, and revenue recognition that lead to the final collapse? What should have been done to reduce or offset these pressures? Penn Square Bank was a small commercial bank in Oklahoma City which made high-risk financial loans during the late 1970s in the oil boom. The bank ultimately collapsedRead More Tobacco Companies in Our Society Essay2017 Words   |  9 Pagesfirm that directed the research for Imperial tobacco was called Burston and Marstellar a very corrupt and crooked public relations firm. Their credibility to the industry was shown in their involvement in worldwide scandals such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Dow Corning breast implant problems and various other crimes that needed to be kept secret. To acquire ‘lawful secrecy’ the projects were directed by lawyers. Almost all of the experiments would be under the supervision of these lawyers becauseRead MoreEnterprise Risk Management4038 Words   |  17 Pagescommittee effectiveness. Respondents, primarily chief financial officers and corporate controllers, ranked â€Å"key areas of business and financial risk† as most import ant for audit committee oversight. In light of events surrounding recent corporate scandals (e.g., Enron, etc.), and the increasing executive and regulatory focus on risk management, the percentage of companies with formal ERM methods is increasing and audit committees are becoming more involved in corporate oversight. The UK and CanadaRead MoreBlackmores Five Forece Analys6352 Words   |  26 Pagesmisinterpreted and sometimes leading on to crisis. Examples of such reputational damage would include Perrier’s benzene contamination crisis (Miller and Gleizes, 1990; Barton, 1991), Firestone’s ATX tyre recall (Blaney et al., 2002) and Dow Corning’s silicon breast implant issue (LaPlant, 1993). There have sadly also been many examples of â€Å"self inï ¬â€šicted† damage to an iconic brand, such as the disastrous introduction of â€Å"New Coke† (Pendergrast, 1993); protest over withdrawal of Nabisco’s famous Crown Pilot