The Ambiguous Role of the WTO in Times of Stalled Multilateral Negotiations and Proliferating FTAs in East Asia

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Lindberg ◽  
Claes G. Alvstam
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Multilateral Negotiations ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
World Trading System ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Multilateral Organization

AbstractThe world trading system is characterized by a growing number of free trade agreements (FTAs). Limited progress in the negotiations at the multilateral level within the WTO has contributed to this development, inducing countries to seek faster, alternative ways to speed up liberalization, which make it possible to take advantage of preferential treatment with key trading partners. This article discusses what role the WTO should take with regard to FTAs in times of stalled multilateral negotiations and proliferating FTAs, and how FTAs can contribute to the multilateralization of regionalism. When results at the multilateral level are scarce, there may be a shift towards other alternatives in which the WTO is left out. This may force the WTO to function reactively, simply facing facts as an organization, rather than proactively, where it may play some role in shaping the FTA development. FTAs are not an entirely separate phenomenon from the WTO, since countries that negotiate FTAs play two roles. They are members of the WTO and as such are part of the work and negotiations of the organization. They are also part of trade arrangements that are limited to a smaller number of countries, and hence can negotiate against the interest of the entire multilateral organization. This article explores how these agreements can facilitate the work and negotiations of the WTO to regionalize bilateralism and multilateralize regionalism, here named the “sticky rice” approach. Various East Asian trade arrangements are used as empirical examples.

scholarly journals The Sutherland Report

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 887-899 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIK DENTERS
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Director General ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Trading System ◽  
World Trading System ◽  
Harmful Effects

In early 2005 a Consultative Board presented a report (the Sutherland Report) on the functioning of the WTO and means to improve its efficiency. The author summarizes the Board's key findings and reflects on its main recommendations. The Board discusses sovereignty and globalization in the context of the world trading system. In addition it finds that the WTO needs to reconsider its institutional framework and some concepts underlying the organization. The Board particularly urges the WTO to address the erosion of the most-favoured-nation treatment through the proliferation of the preferential trade agreements. Transparency and civil society, dispute settlement, decision-making, efficiency, and the role of the Director-General and the secretariat are also discussed. The author concludes that the Board focuses on economic consequences of trade liberalization but fails to address the harmful effects of globalization. He agrees with the Board that institutional reform is required, but concludes that it would have been helpful if the Board had offered clearer direction on how to improve the decision-making process.

Between Theories of Trade and Development: The Future of the World Trading System

2015 ◽  
pp. 122-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Trebilcock
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Doha Round ◽  
Most Favored Nation ◽  
Trading System ◽  
The World ◽  
World Trading System

This article traces the role of developing countries in the GATT/WTO trading regime, and the evolving legal framework for their participation. It then maps onto this framework evolving schools of thought amongst development economists on strategies for economic development. It goes on to argue that the paralysis in the current Doha Round of the WTO, primarily reflecting fault-lines between developed and developing countries, and paralleled by the dramatic proliferation of preferential trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties, requires fundamental rethinking of the orientation of the multilateral (WTO) trading system, in particular the need to be more accommodating of plurilateral agreements amongst sub-sets of members that are open to subsequent accession by other members, primarily on a conditional most-favored-nation basis.

scholarly journals The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and Vietnam’s Trade Efficiency

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Thi Hong Nguyen ◽  
Thang Ngoc Doan
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Volume ◽  
Large Space ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Efficiency Performance ◽  
Stochastic Gravity

This study employs a stochastic gravity model to estimate the efficiency performance of Vietnam’s trade with its main trading partners from 1995-2015. Trade efficiency is measured as the ratio of actual trade volume to the maximum likelihood. Moreover. it analyzes the effects of both natural and man-made trade barriers on trade efficiency. The empirical results suggest that the actual trade of Vietnam appears to be much smaller than a possible efficiency level and that there is large space for further progress. Export efficiency outweighs that of import. Vietnam’s ASEAN Free Trade Agreement membership has, in general, improved the trade efficiency, whereas tariffs and domestic devaluation have impaired it. Our findings lead to the recommendation that Vietnam should join more Free Trade Agreements and break down the man-made barriers.

scholarly journals From Preferential Trade Arrangements to Free Trade Agreements: One of the Downturns of Cooperation in International Relations?

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Jaime Baena-Rojas ◽  
Susana Herrero-Olarte
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Tariff Preference ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Trading Partners

Since the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have been an interesting tool to promote international cooperation through the granting of non-reciprocal and/or unilateral tariff preferences by developed countries to developing countries. These international agreements have tended to generate critical trade dependencies for the receiving countries. Due to the circumstances of world trade and due to the lack of interest of the grantors to maintain this type of tariff preference, these developing countries are forced to renegotiate their PTAs into to free trade agreements (FTAs). To demonstrate this, we conducted a qualitative analysis to characterize the behavior of PTAs and their impact on the configuration of FTAs and to obtain indicators and trends. The results suggested a predominance of FTAs and a decline in PTAs. This was done to maintain access to the markets within those granting countries, which also became the main trading partners of these PTA recipient countries.

India’s Trade Potential and Free Trade Agreements: A Stochastic Frontier Gravity Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 20160074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surender Kumar ◽  
Prerna Prabhakar
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regulatory Quality ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Trade Potential ◽  
The Impact

This paper analyses the role of Free Trade Agreements in determining export and import efficiency levels in India using stochastic frontier version of gravity model. We estimate the impact of selected FTAs of India (its bilateral FTAs, FTA with ASEAN and South Asian FTA) and regulatory quality on the efficiency of exports and imports over the period of 2000–2014. The results indicate that India’s bilateral FTAs and its FTA with the ASEAN group help in improving the export and import efficiency respectively. However, the South Asian Free Trade Agreement is statistically insignificant for India’s export and import efficiency. The results also highlight importance of trading partners’ regulatory quality for enhancing the India’s trade efficiency and note that the impacts of regulatory quality are non-monotonic.

Free Trade Agreements and Foreign Direct Investment: The Role of Endogeneity and Dynamics

2016 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Reed ◽  
Christina Lira ◽  
Lee Byung-Ki ◽  
Junsoo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements

scholarly journals The Endogeneity Of Association Agreements And Their Impact On Trade For Eastern Countries: Empirical Evidence For Romania

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Rault ◽  
Ana Maria Sova ◽  
Robert Sova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Flows ◽  
Economic Literature ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
European Union Countries

The main goal of regionalization is the creation of free trade areas and the guarantee for countries to accede to a widened market. Many studies dealing with the effects of regional free trade agreements on trade flows already exist in economic literature and the increase of regional agreements among nations has recently stressed the key role of regionalization. However, the effects of agreements on trade have not yet been clearly determined in those studies. Our research in this paper aims at reassessing the genuine role of associations. For this matter, we particularly study the association of Romania with European Union countries. Our econometric analysis based on qualitative choice models highlights in particular why European countries chose to conclude an association agreement with Romania, and stresses the fact that European Union countries select endogenously the conclusion of association agreements. We also find a 29% positive impact of the association agreement on Romanian export performances.

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