Free Trade under Fire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Irwin
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Environmental Regulations ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Plant Closings ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trump Administration

Free trade is always under attack, more than ever in recent years. The imposition of numerous U.S. tariffs in 2018, and the retaliation those tariffs have drawn, has thrust trade issues to the top of the policy agenda. Critics contend that free trade brings economic pain, including plant closings and worker layoffs, and that trade agreements serve corporate interests, undercut domestic environmental regulations, and erode national sovereignty. Why are global trade and agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership so controversial? Does free trade deserve its bad reputation? This book aside the misconceptions that run rampant in the debate over trade and gives readers a clear understanding of the issues involved. In its fifth edition, the book has been updated to address the sweeping new policy developments under the Trump administration and the latest research on the impact of trade.

Was India Right in Not Joining RCEP? A Cost–Benefit Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 097492842110477
Author(s):  
Monika Jain
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Trade Diversion ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Trade Creation ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

India dropped out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which included the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, China, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan and Australia, after negotiating for almost seven years in November 2018 on the grounds of national interest and also that free trade agreements (FTAs) did not amount to free trade and led to more trade diversion than trade creation. The cost and benefit of a regional agreement depend on the amount of trade creation with respect to trade diversion (Panagriya, 2000). This study tries to examine India’s concerns and at the same time, highlights the cost of not joining RCEP. India’s trade deficit with 11 out of the 15 RCEP nations has been a major cause of concern. Unfavourable trade balance, concerns about the impact on dairy sector, economic slowdown, past experience with FTA’s, China factor, data localisation, rules of origin, the experience of ASEAN countries with Sino-FTA have been some of the reasons behind India’s decision to opt-out of this mega multilateral agreement. Also, bilateral trade agreements with some RCEP countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea were operational. A multilateral trade agreement with ASEAN countries was very much in place. So, trade between India and 12 of the RCEP member countries would not have changed much after India’s inclusion in RCEP. The impact of lower tariffs would have been evident for the remaining three countries: China, Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, there was fear of a massive surge in imports of manufactures from China, dairy imports from Australia and New Zealand. This study also examines the long term impact of this decision and if India has missed out on becoming a part of the global value chain and gaining greater market access in the Asia Pacific region. India’s policy of import substitution and protectionism did not capitulate desired results in the past. Hence, a critical evaluation of India’s decision and some validation on her concerns and fears have been done.

Developments Relating to U.S. Trade Negotiations—KORUS, NAFTA, and Trade Promotion Authority

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-513 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
The North ◽  
Final Agreement ◽  
Trade Promotion ◽  
Trade Deals ◽  
Trump Administration

Consistent with his approach on the campaign trail, President Trump has demonstrated a continued interest in revamping U.S. trade agreements. By the late spring of 2018, the Trump administration had negotiated modest changes to the United States-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) in favor of U.S. interests. It had yet to reach any final agreement with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), despite the expiration of an initial deadline that was designed to ensure adequate time for a vote on the negotiated agreement by the present Congress. To ease the passage of future trade deals, Trump has triggered the three-year extension of a process that provides expedited congressional consideration of negotiated trade agreements.

FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS AND BRIDGEHEAD EFFECT: EVIDENCE FROM KOREA–CHILE FTA

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (05) ◽  
pp. 1550098
Author(s):  
KICHUN KANG ◽  
PHYLLIS KEYS ◽  
YOON S. SHIN
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Aggregate Industry

Recent literature on the dynamics of export destinations has argued that firms export their products to new markets that are geographically close and culturally related to their previous export destinations. A modified version of [Melitz, M (2003). The impact of trade on intra-industry reallocations and aggregate industry productivity. Econometrica, 71(6), 1695–1725.] model suggests that a preferential trade agreement may provide inefficient firms with opportunities to export their products to third destination countries. This paper finds that new Korean products have been exported to the Chile market because of reductions in Chilean tariffs and the experience gained from exporting to the Chilean market has increased the likelihood of subsequent export to other countries in South America. The paper provides direct evidence that a free trade agreement (FTA) can serve as a stepping stone to other markets.

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.

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