scholarly journals The World Trade Organization's Report on the EU's Moratorium on Biotech Products: The Wisdom of the US Challenge to the EU in the WTO

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Lieberman ◽  
Tim Gray
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Cartagena Protocol On Biosafety ◽  
The Us ◽  
Cartagena Protocol ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Biotech Products ◽  
The Eu

The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently ruled on the case brought by the US, Canada and Argentina against the moratorium imposed by the European Union (EU) on imports of genetically-modified (GM) food and crops. Although the WTO's ruling has been greeted by the complainant countries as a victory, it found in their favor on only one narrow technical procedural issue, and it rejected more substantive challenges to the EU moratorium. In this article, we analyze the WTO report and explain the issues at stake, focusing particularly on the question of why the USA chose the WTO as the forum for its challenge to the EU moratorium, and whether it was wise to do so. Has the USA achieved its aims through the trade-specific WTO, or should it have taken its challenge to the more hostile, but environment-specific forum of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety? Alternatively, should the USA have refrained from mounting an official international challenge at all?

scholarly journals China's Accession into the World Trade Organization

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-127
Author(s):  
Gyoung-Gyu Choi
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
The United States ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
The Eu

This paper outlines the process of China's accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO) with special focus given to the negotiations between the United States and China, and the European Union (EU) and China. Various economic and political issues behind the scene explain why the US refused to accept China into the WTO for the last 14 years. The economic and political changes in America coupled with the economic and political changes in China placed the two countries in a position where a U.S-China bilateral agreement could be made. The EU acted as a free rider in these negotiations such that it achieved most of its objectives from the conclusion of the Sino-US negotiation. Moreover, the EU could have topped China's concession to the US if it had taken advantage of the opportunity right before the PNTR vote carne to the US Congress.

Russian Policy of Agriculture Support and the Necessity of Its Modification after WTO Accession

2012 ◽  
pp. 132-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Uzun
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
World Trade ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Wto Accession ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Agriculture Support

The article deals with the features of the Russian policy of agriculture support in comparison with the EU and the US policies. Comparative analysis is held considering the scales and levels of collective agriculture support, sources of supporting means, levels and mechanisms of support of agricultural production manufacturers, its consumers, agrarian infrastructure establishments, manufacturers and consumers of each of the principal types of agriculture production. The author makes an attempt to estimate the consequences of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization based on a hypothesis that this will result in unification of the manufacturers and consumers’ protection levels in Russia with the countries that have long been WTO members.

scholarly journals World trade and regional trade orientation in the context of forthcoming transatlantic trade and investment partnership

Equilibrium ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Czarny ◽  
Paweł Folfas
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Eu

We analyse potential consequences of the forthcoming Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States (TTIP) for trade orientation of both partners. We do it so with along with the short analysis of the characteristics of the third wave of regionalism and the TTIP position in this process as well as the dominant role of the EU and the U.S. in the world economy – especially – in the world trade. Next, we study trade orientation of the hypothetical region created in result of TTIP. We use regional trade introversion index (RTII) to analyze trade between the EU and the U.S. that has taken place until now to get familiar with the potential changes caused by liberalization of trade between both partners. We analyze RTII for mutual trade of the EU and the U.S. Then, we apply disaggregated data to analyze and compare selected partial RTII (e.g. for trade in final and intermediate goods as well as goods produced in the main sectors of economy like agriculture or manufacturing). The analysis of the TTIP region’s orientation of trade based on the historical data from the period 1999-2012 revealed several conclusions. Nowadays, the trade between the EU and the U.S. is constrained by the protection applied by both partners. Trade liberalization constituting one necessary part of TTIP will surely help to intensify this trade. The factor of special concern is trade of agricultural products which is most constrained and will hardly be fully liberalized even within a framework of TTIP. Simultaneously, both parties are even now trading relatively intensively with intermediaries, which are often less protected than the average of the economy for the sake of development of final goods’ production. The manufactured goods are traded relatively often as well, mainly in consequence of their poor protection after many successful liberalization steps in the framework of GATT/WTO. Consequently, we point out that in many respects the TTIP will be important not only for its participants, but for the whole world economy as well. TTIP appears to be an economic and political project with serious consequences for the world economy and politics.

European Union in Counter-Crisis Competition of Power Centers: Potential, Realities, Hopes

2013 ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
K. Voronov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Evolutionary Robustness ◽  
Power Centers ◽  
Macroeconomic Growth ◽  
The Eu

Despite the crisis, the economy of the European Union remains to be the largest in the world. The economic mechanism of the EU is rather differentiated. It has a great historical experience and possesses sufficient evolutionary robustness. Currently, the former relationships between the EU and the USA undergo substantial changes and new forms emerge. For both of them the greatest challenge is presented by China which in recent decades shows the solid rates of GDP growth. Supposedly, Chines economy will become the world largest on in the new future. Under such conditions the Old World has to conduct a persistent search for new sources of its successful macroeconomic growth.

European Union and China Relations in the Light of Changing Global Order

2020 ◽  
pp. 417-434
Author(s):  
Sedef Eylemer ◽  
Elif Cemre Besgur
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Relationship Context ◽  
Normative Identity ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Normative Basis ◽  
Strategic Perspective ◽  
Trade Wars ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU), United States (US), and China are the main global drivers of the international trade system. However, trade wars between them create tensions in the world. As the world is facing increasing neo-protectionist trade applications of the Trump administration, this chapter analyses whether a greater convergence between China and the EU is possible for protecting multilateralism through two case studies, namely (1) market conditions and discrimination, (2) cybersecurity. In this context, the chapter argues that although the US pressure has led the EU to rapprochement with China, this situation creates a dilemma for the EU in terms of the fears about the problems of alignment with the normative identity of the EU. Whereas the EU aims at regulating the global trade on a normative basis originating from its acquis, China has a more strategic perspective based upon specific relationship context. It is difficult to take a side for the EU due to its different standpoint compared to China in defending the multilateral trading system.

scholarly journals The WTO, Self-Determination, and Multi-Jurisdictional Sovereignty

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 287-294
Author(s):  
Michael Fakhri
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Most Favored Nation ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Wto Appellate Body ◽  
The Eu

In EC—Seal Products, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body (AB) held that the European Union (EU) Seal Regime banning the importation of seal products could be justified under General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XX(a) as a measure necessary toprotect public morals. It also held that the indigenous communities (IC) exception under the EU Seal Regime is inconsistent with GATT Article I:1 (Most-Favored Nation) because it discriminated against commercial fishers in Canada and Norway and was applied in a manner that favored the mostly Inuit seal hunters of Greenland, and thus ran afoul of Article XX’s chapeau. Since the entire EU Seal Regime is not likely to be done away with, the most important question for Inuit communities is: how will the EU change the discriminatory aspects of the Seal Regime and IC exception? The EU faces an October deadlineto pass its new legislation and this remains a very live issue.

scholarly journals TRADE POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-59
Author(s):  
Viktoriya Mashkara-Choknadiy ◽  
Yuriy Mayboroda
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Foreign Trade Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The pandemic of COVID-19 has influenced all sectors of social life, including the global economy and trade relations. The year of 2020 was marked with significant changes in internal and foreign economic policy of almost all nations. The purpose of the paper is to study the measures taken by the EU and the USA as the world's leading economies to regulate their foreign trade in the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tasks of the study are to show the influence of the crisis on changes of global trade policy in front of the threat to national security. Methodology. The study is based on the results of statistical analysis of data provided the WTO and the UNCTAD. The authors show an analytical assessment of the foreign trade indicators of the EU and the USA. Methods of comparison and generalization were used to formulate conclusions on regulatory trends in foreign trade of the US and the EU. Results allowed identifying specific features and changes in the regulation of foreign trade of the EU and the US, assessing the impact of the pandemic on their foreign trade. It was found that both mentioned players of the world economy have actively introduced both deterrent and liberalization measures during 2020, which were aimed at providing the domestic market with scarce COVID-related goods. The study shows the transition from export restricting to import liberalizing measures in foreign trade policies from the start of pandemic to the late 2020. Practical implications. Understanding and predicting the possible actions of partners (the US and the EU in this case) in the field of foreign trade regulation is an important practical aspect, which has to be taken into account when developing Ukraine's foreign trade policy. Value/originality. The study of foreign trade policy of the world's leading countries allows us to understand the behavior of governments of the countries that are largely dependent on participation in international trade in their development, to draw conclusions about the most common instruments of foreign trade policy in the time of humanitarian and economic crises.

International regime conflict in trade and environment: the Biosafety Protocol and the WTO

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
GILBERT R. WINHAM
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Trade And Environment ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Cartagena Protocol On Biosafety ◽  
The Us ◽  
Cartagena Protocol ◽  
Sanitary And Phytosanitary Agreement ◽  
The Eu

Trade and environment constitute regimes in international relations: they are vehicles for cooperation between nation states that permit governments to address various subjects such as commercial non-discrimination, reduction of pollution, reciprocity and sustainable development. The issues of food safety and agricultural biotechnology (i.e., genetically modified organisms or GMOs) have been raised in both regimes, and have been managed in different and arguably inconsistent manners. In the trade regime, food safety and ag-biotech are mainly subject to the US-backed principle of ‘scientific risk assessment’ established in the WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement, while in the environment regime they would likely be addressed through the more politically based ‘precautionary principle’, promoted by the EU and represented in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Both the trade and environment regimes are rules-based, but conflict between them diminishes the force of precision and obligation needed to make rules effective. Furthermore, there is a danger that regime conflict could expand, thereby reducing the opportunity to promote an optimal relationship between science and society in the future.

Growth and Competitiveness

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
André Sapir
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Market ◽  
High Tech ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Entity ◽  
Single European Market ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Technologies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Eu

After two prosperous decades, the European Union suffered a serious setback in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with sluggish growth and weak competitiveness in high-tech sectors compared to the USA and Japan. The creation of the single European market in 1993 was a major boost to growth and competitiveness in Europe. Yet, today, even abstracting from the coronavirus crisis, the European Union again faces some economic troubles. Growth has been subdued for a while and the EU is suffering yet again from weak competitiveness in high-tech sectors compared to the USA and to China, which has replaced Japan as the main Asian powerhouse. At the same time, however, the geopolitical situation has changed dramatically. In the earlier days, the world was divided between East and West, and all three main economic powers, the EU, Japan, and the USA, were in the same political camp. Their rivalry was therefore purely economic. Today, there are political dividing lines between the three main economic powers. The EU’s competitiveness problem vis-à-vis China and the USA in some key technologies is therefore not just economic but also geopolitical. Yet, the European Union remains largely an economic entity, though it has started to think and even to act geopolitically. The obvious question is whether Europe will be able to repeat its achievement of nearly 30 years ago and come up with a new design that will boost its growth and competitiveness in this new geopolitical era, or whether this quest will prove elusory.

The European Union oil dependency: a threat to economic growth and diplomatic freedom

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Alexis Acevedo ◽  
Maria Lorca-Susino
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Energy Dependency ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Data Statistics ◽  
The Eu

Purpose This paper provides a general review of the current energy dependency of the European Union (EU) and the possible threat that it poses to economic growth and diplomatic freedom. Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review with a narrative approach to analyze historical data, statistics and energy policies and determine if the EU oil dependency represents a threat to economic growth and diplomatic freedom. In addition, a review of the US policy “America first” is also included to analyze its impact on the EU. Findings The energy dependency rate of the EU increased 12 percentage points from 1990 to 2018. Russia has become the largest oil supplier for the EU tripling Norway, the largest supplier in the 1990s. The oil dependency of the EU on Russia is a difficult situation where guaranteed energy supply and diplomatic freedom becomes a national political controversy. Even though the USA is currently a top world exporter of oil, the EU does not rely on the USA. The findings suggest that the EU needs to secure a reliable energy supplier to guarantee economic growth, reduce energy scarcity and enhance diplomatic freedom. Originality/value This paper provides a historical examination of the EU oil dependency considering its impact on economic growth and diplomatic freedom.

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