scholarly journals The Trade-Labour Nexus: Global Value Chains and Labour Provisions in European Union Free Trade Agreements

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirela Barbu ◽  
Liam Campling ◽  
Adrian Smith ◽  
James Harrison ◽  
Ben Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
Common Framework

Labour standards provisions contained within the European Union’s (EU) free trade agreements (FTAs) are a major iteration of attempts to regulate working conditions in the global economy. This article develops an analysis of how the legal and institutional mechanisms established by these FTAs intersect with global value chain governance dynamics in counoutries with contrasting political economies. The article formulates an original analytical framework to explore how governance arrangements and power relations between lead firms in core markets and suppliers in FTA signatory countries shape and constrain the effectiveness of labour provisions in FTAs. This analysis demonstrates how the common framework of labour provisions in EU trade agreements, when applied in a uniform manner across differentiated political-economic contexts, face serious difficulties in creating meaningful change for workers in global value chains.

The impact of COVID-19 on the economy and international economic relations of the Republic of Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-179
Author(s):  
I. A. Sukhanov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Republic Of Korea ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted global trade in goods and services and has exposed weaknesses in the existing structures for international interaction within the global value chains in the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States of America, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The dependence of these economies on the People's Republic of China negatively affected the production processes of the largest industrial companies. To minimize the existing risks, countries are actively participating in and developing free trade agreements, which helps to diversify the geography of participants in global value chains and sales markets. The Government of the Republic of Korea has demonstrated its ability to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing its own strategy of preventive measures and economic stimulus measures. In addition, two new foreign economic initiatives were launched: the New Southern Policy and the New Northern Policy, which could be based on existing and new free trade agreements. Active involvement in global value chains and participation in free trade agreements allowed the Republic of Korea to increase its competitive advantages in the world market and develop its economic potential. The diversification of trading partners under free trade agreements had a positive impact on the country's economic performance during the pandemic and helped to minimize the negative impact of disruptions in foreign trade. The Russian Federation has the opportunity to integrate into new foreign economic trends in South Korea, and there are opportunities to increase the volume of mutual trade between the countries. One of the ways to achieve this goal may be the signing of a bilateral agreement of a free trade zone between the Republic of Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union.

scholarly journals Trade, Climate and Energy: A New Study on Climate Action through Free Trade Agreements

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4363
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Dent
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Trade Partners

Efforts to tackle climate change are taking place on multiple fronts. This includes trade, an increasingly important defining feature of the global economy. In recent years, free trade agreements (FTAs) have become the primary mechanism of trade policy and diplomacy. This study examines the development of climate action measures in FTAs and discusses what difference they can make to tackling climate change. Its primary source research is based on an in-depth examination of FTAs in force up to 2020. This paper is structured around a number of research questions forming around three main inter-related areas of enquiry. Firstly, to what extent are these provisions in FTAs essentially derivative of energy’s connections with climate change, and thus part of a wider trade–climate–energy nexus? Secondly, what kinds of climate action are FTAs specifically promoting, and how effective a potential positive impact may we expect these to have? Thirdly, are certain climate action norms being promoted by trade partners in FTAs and if so, then who are the norm leaders, what is motivating them, and to what extent are they extending their influence over other trade partners? In addressing these questions, this study offers new insights and analysis regarding a potentially important emerging trend in the trade–climate–energy nexus. Its international political economy approach and latest empirical research also provide a further distinctive contribution to knowledge in this inter-disciplinary area, developing new comprehensions of the relationship between trade, climate action and energy.

SINGAPORE AND ASEAN IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: The Case of Free Trade Agreements

Asian Survey ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 908-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teofilo C. Daquila ◽  
Le Huu Huy
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Slow Pace ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Asian Economic Community

Abstract Given the slow pace of global and regional trade liberalization initiatives, Singapore has forged free trade agreements for economic and strategic reasons. Other ASEAN countries and ASEAN itself have also become interested in establishing FTAs with countries outside the grouping. In the future, ASEAN could form an ASEAN or an East Asian Economic Community.

Free Traders

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Fairbrother
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Mass Public ◽  
Political Events

This book is about the political events and decisions in the 1980s and 1990s that established the global economy we have today. Different social scientists and other commentators have described the foundations of globalization very differently. Some have linked the rise of free trade and multinational enterprises to the democratic expression of ordinary people’s hopes and desires; others have said they were a top-down project requiring, if anything, the circumvention of democracy. This book shows that politicians did not decide to embrace globalization because of the preferences of the mass public. Instead, using comparative-historical case studies of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, this book shows that politicians’ decisions reflected the agendas and outlooks of various kinds of elites. On the basis of more than a hundred interviews, and analyses of materials from archives in all three countries, the book tells the story of how the three countries negotiated and ratified two agreements that substantially opened and integrated their economies: the 1989 Canada-US and trilateral 1994 North American Free Trade Agreements. Contrary to what many people believe, these agreements (like free trade elsewhere) were based less on mainstream, neoclassical economics than on the informal, self-serving economic ideas of businesspeople. This folk economics shaped the contents of the agreements, and helped bind together the elite coalitions whose support made them politically possible. These same ideas, however, have reinforced some harmful economic misunderstandings, and have even contributed to the recent backlash against globalization in some countries.

scholarly journals Regional Economic Cooperation

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon M. Gough ◽  
Sivakumar Venkataramany
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
Need To Belong ◽  
Regional Economic

Free trade agreements are an essential segment of the global economy. Regional economic cooperation is the fuel firing the push towards a global economy. Nations will need to belong to some type of regional economic cooperation unit to compete with other regionally aligned nations. This article provides three factors (1) an overview of the qualifications that exist regarding FTAs, (2) comparison of the four largest FTAs (EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, and ASEAN), and (3) FTAs effect on global foreign policy. These factors demonstrate the vitality of a regional future.

scholarly journals Global Value Chain Reconfiguration and COVID-19: Investigating the Case for More Resilient Redistributed Models of Production

2022 ◽  
pp. 000812562110685
Author(s):  
Wendy Phillips ◽  
Jens K. Roehrich ◽  
Dharm Kapletia ◽  
Elizabeth Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Global Value Chain ◽  
Local Production ◽  
The Face ◽  
Global Shocks ◽  
Global Events ◽  
The Right

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the global economy, laying bare the coordination challenges and vulnerabilities of global value chains (GVCs) across sectors. Governments, consumers, and firms alike have called for greater GVC resilience to ensure critical products are delivered to the right place, at the right time, and in the right condition. This article investigates whether GVC reconfiguration through the adoption of redistributed manufacturing (RDM) in local production can deliver greater resilience against unexpected, disruptive global events. It proposes actionable steps for managers to ensure more resilient GVCs in the face of global shocks.

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