Internal Trade Agreements in Canada: Progress, Complexity and Challenges

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Kukucha
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
National Level ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Labour Mobility ◽  
Trade Reforms ◽  
New West ◽  
Regional Agreements ◽  
Internal Trade

AbstractDespite criticism of ongoing protectionism, this study argues that Canada's internal trade regime has evolved significantly since the implementation of the original Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). This includes thirteen formal amendments to the AIT and numerous regional agreements in Western, Central, and Atlantic Canada. Borrowing from the liberal International Political Economy (IPE) literature it argues that existing regional agreements complement and offer a potential framework for broader internal trade reforms at the national level. Of these the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) offers a promising model for Canada's internal market, with revised rules and norms related to negative lists, labour mobility, procurement, and investment and dispute settlement. Ongoing efforts to remove barriers will also be linked to a strengthened Internal Trade Secretariat, confidence-building measures, increased transparency and further reform of technical language.

Endogenous Preferential Trade Agreements: An Empirical Analysis

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S Magee
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
The Political ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Regional Agreements

Abstract This paper provides one of the first assessments of the hypothesis that two countries are more likely to form a preferential trade agreement (PTA) if they are already major trading partners. The paper also tests a number of predictions from the political economy literature about which countries are expected to form regional agreements. The results show that countries are more likely to be preferential trading partners if they have significant bilateral trade, are similar in size, and are both democracies. Finally, the paper measures the effect of preferential agreements on trade volumes while, unlike previous studies, treating PTA formation as endogenous.

scholarly journals The Two Noble Kinsmen: Internal and Legal Transparency in the WTO and Their Connection to Preferential and Regional Trade Agreements

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-569
Author(s):  
Maria Panezi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Institutional Processes ◽  
Multilateral Trading System ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The proliferation of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) has given rise to significant debate on the need to measure, understand and possibly regulate the impact these agreements have on the multilateral trading system under the umbrella of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This article will discuss the two Doha Transparency Mechanisms (legal transparency) regarding regional trade agreements, as they appear in two General Council decisions from 2006 and 2010. I will argue based on a closer look and a consistent interpretation of Paragraph 10 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration that there is another type of transparency that is relevant to the discussion on PTAs/RTAs, namely “internal transparency.” “Internal transparency stricto sensu” highlights the significance of trust in the WTO institutional processes, such as negotiations, decision-making, dispute settlement and trade monitoring that the representatives of developing member states should have in order for the WTO system to function productively. “Internal transparency lato sensu” is introduced in this article as an extension to include any decision-making deficits, exclusionary and asymmetrical outcomes specifically in the area of unchecked Preferential Trade Agreement proliferation. Instead of a conclusion, the article offers some proposals for more a meaningful progress in the WTO with respect to PTAs/RTAs The proposals aim at raising the profile of both legal and internal of transparency and posit that raising the profile of one will inevitably lead in improvements in the other.

Sustainability and precautionary aspects of CETA dissected

elni Review ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 58-63
Author(s):  
Wybe Th. Douma
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Sustainability Impact Assessment ◽  
The Eu

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU, its Member States and Canada has been presented as “the best trade agreement the EU has ever negotiated”. While there are certainly many advantages compared to older trade treaties, two remaining points of concern are investigated in this contribution. The first one relates to the manner in which the EU utilises its own system for ensuring that sustainability concerns are integrated into trade agreements. In the first part of this contribution, it is investigated whether the manner in which the integration instrument is employed in the case of CETA, notably where the inclusion of an investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism is concerned, is in line with consistent, evidence-based policy choices and with the self-imposed guidelines as laid down in the so-called Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment (TSIA) Handbook. The second part of this contribution investigates whether the continued implementation of the precautionary principle on the side of the EU is properly secured in the view of the various rules, procedures and institutional arrangements contained in the CETA text. In that respect, the findings of a detailed study on this topic are summarised first, after which some of the critique from the side of the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and from the EU Commissioner for Trade is examined and commented upon.

The New Face of CEFTA and its Dispute Resolution Mechanisms

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Biuković
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Dispute Resolution Mechanism ◽  
The Eu

AbstractAmendments made to the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) in 2006 mark significant developments in the economic integration of the Western Balkans. Among those amendments were changes to the Agreement's dispute resolution mechanism. This article analyzes the latest developments in economic integration in the Western Balkans and examines the nature and operation of the dispute resolution mechanisms used in CEFTA. Explanations for important changes to the dispute settlement process in CEFTA are suggested by examining the context of the members' economic, political, social and legal surroundings. The article surveys ongoing tendencies in the development of dispute resolution mechanisms in other regional trade agreements, in particular those utilized by the European Union (EU), as a means of exploring the rationale behind the new CEFTA. It argues that the EU practice—developed in EU association agreements with third countries—has inspired the 2006 amendments to the CEFTA dispute resolution mechanism.

“Putting the Pieces Together … an EU Model BIT?”

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 679-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
August Reinisch
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
External Trade ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Investment Treaty ◽  
Investment Agreements ◽  
Scope Of Protection

Although the eu Commission as negotiation leader in the field of external trade matters which, after Lisbon, also include investment will not issue a Model Investment Treaty, a number of its statements together with reactions by the Council and the Parliament allow the observer to draw conclusions as to the likely content of such future agreements. In addition, those trade agreements with investment chapters which are already close to finalization, like the Canada-eu Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (ceta), provide telling insights concerning the main features of an eu agreement on investment protection. This article provides a general overview of the expected content of eu treaties in the field of investment, comprising scope of protection, substantive standards, and dispute settlement. It concludes that future eu investment agreements are likely to contain the traditional short eu bit standards to which a number of specifications inspired by North-American practice will be added.

Power in international trade politics: is ISDS a solution in search of a problem?

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Reddie
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Endogenous Factors ◽  
International Trade Agreements ◽  
Transatlantic Trade ◽  
Trade Politics ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
Trade And Investment

AbstractThis article examines the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in recent mega-free trade agreement. Below, I examine the origins of the ISDS concept and outline the controversy surrounding its use in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Then, I provide a theoretical discussion that outlines both the exogenous and endogenous factors that contribute to the inclusion of ISDS provisions in international trade agreements. Focusing on the latter endogenous factors, I then argue that not all international trade agreements are the same and that, as such, it is possible to develop a typology of international trade agreement across two variables (the number of parties and relative power) that impact the appropriateness of including an ISDS provision. I test this typology against the empirical record. Finally, I discuss potential innovations to the ISDS provisions and market-based mechanisms that address the dual challenges of discrimination and expropriation that ISDS is designed to address.1

Trade Agreements: Theoretical Foundations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Beshkar ◽  
Eric Bond
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Barriers ◽  
Trade Theory ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Theoretical Literature ◽  
Noncooperative Equilibrium ◽  
Tariff Reductions

International trade agreements have played a significant role in the reduction of trade barriers that has taken place since the end of World War II. One objective of the theoretical literature on trade agreements is to address the question of why bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, rather than simple unilateral actions by individual countries, have been required to reduce trade barriers. The predominant explanation has been the terms of trade theory, which argues that unilateral tariff policies lead to a prisoner’s dilemma due to the negative effect of a country’s tariffs on its trading partners. Reciprocal tariff reductions through a trade agreement are required to obtain tariff reductions that improve on the noncooperative equilibrium. An alternative explanation, the commitment theory of trade agreements, focuses on the use of external enforcement under a trade agreement to discipline domestic politics. A second objective of the theoretical literature has been to understand the design of trade agreements. Insights from contract theory are used to study various flexibility mechanisms that are embodied in trade agreements. These mechanisms include contingent protection measures such as safeguards and antidumping, and unilateral flexibility through tariff overhang. The literature also addresses the enforcement of agreements in the absence of an external enforcement mechanism. The theories of the dispute settlement process of the WTO portray it as an institution with an informational role that facilitates the coordination among parties with incomplete information about the states of the world and the nature of the actions taken by each signatory. Finally, the literature examines whether the ability to form preferential trade agreements serves as a stumbling block or a building block to multilateral liberalization.

scholarly journals Trade Agreements and Enforcement: Evidence from WTO Dispute Settlement

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 64-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad P. Bown ◽  
Kara M. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Terms Of Trade ◽  
Trade Volume ◽  
Trade Theory ◽  
Trade Dispute ◽  
Wto Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Efficient Level

This paper examines implications of the terms-of-trade theory for the determinants of outcomes arising under the enforcement provisions of international agreements. Like original trade agreement negotiations, formal trade dispute negotiations are modeled as potentially addressing the terms-of-trade externality problem that governments implement import protection above the globally efficient level so as to shift some of the policy's costs onto trading partners. The approach first extends the Bagwell and Staiger (1999, 2011) model from trade agreement accession negotiations to the setting of enforcement negotiations, and the resulting theory guides the empirical assessment on trade volume outcomes from WTO disputes over 1995–2009. (JEL D74, F13, K33)

Advancing labour mobility in trade agreements

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-73
Author(s):  
Meredith B. Lilly
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Labour Mobility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Trade Agreements ◽  
Previous Decade ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
The Usa ◽  
International Trading

Purpose Labour mobility is increasingly recognized as an important component of a globalized international trading system. This paper aims to examine the role of temporary entry commitments in international trade agreements toward facilitating global labour mobility. Design/methodology/approach This paper traces three decades of temporary entry provisions in international trade agreements signed by the USA and Canada, beginning with their bilateral Canada–US Free Trade Agreement and culminating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Findings The paper finds that while many countries have continued to liberalize their temporary entry commitments in various trade agreements, the USA has reversed course in the previous decade, hampering international progress. Meanwhile, Canada has pursued ever greater labour mobility provisions with most of its trading partners. Practical implications The unique roles played by the USA, Canada and other trading partners in advancing a coherent international labour mobility agenda are considered. To continue to advance labour mobility in trade agreements moving forward, policy alternatives to the “all” or “nothing” approaches pursued by Canada and the USA are suggested. Originality/value To the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to formally evaluate labour mobility in the TPP and the only paper to outline the evolution of temporary entry in the US vs Canadian trade agreements over three decades.

The Evolution of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism in Preferential Trade Agreements [PTAs]: The Case of Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 346-374
Author(s):  
I Gusti Ngurah Parikesit WIDIATEDJA
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
High Level ◽  
Trade Partners ◽  
Settlement Mechanism

AbstractThe dispute settlement mechanism [DSM] under preferential trade agreements [PTAs] is crucial to ensure adequate implementation and enforcement of commitments among contracting parties. The DSM has evolved from political/diplomatic styles with a low level of legalism to judicial styles with a high level of legalism. Indonesia has also experienced this evolution process in its PTAs. This paper aims to show the evolution of the DSM in Indonesian PTAs, analyzing several related factors behind this trend. The paper argues that the evolution of the DSM from the GATT to WTO, Indonesia's participation in regional trade agreement, that is, ASEAN, the influence of trade partners, the existence of domestic factors, and the ongoing WTO dispute encourage the evolution of the DSM in Indonesian PTAs from political styles to more judicial styles with a high level of legalism.

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