Reciprocity in Retrospect: A Historical Inquest of Bilateralism in U.S. Trade Policy

Author(s):  
Treb Allen ◽  
Stephen Meardon

Several varieties of bilateral trade arrangements were tried in the United States from independence to 1909. They included most-favored-nation (MFN) treaties of the conditional and unconditional varieties, MFN treaties in which the conditionality was implicit, preferential trade arrangements, and agreements of a different nature authorized by the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 and the Dingley Act of 1897. This essay is an inquest of the varieties of U.S. trade arrangements and their effects on bilateral trade flows. It surveys the several varieties, discusses the circumstances of their usage, and uses a gravity model to estimate empirically their effects. The empirical results show that bilateralism's effects on trade flows are contingent upon its varieties and historical circumstances.

2020 ◽  
Vol COVID-19 ◽  
pp. e2021028
Author(s):  
Miguel Cardoso ◽  
Brandon Malloy

We examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted trade between Canada and the United States, using a novel dataset on monthly bilateral trade flows between Canadian provinces and U.S. states, merged with COVID-19 health data. Our results show that a one-standard deviation increase in COVID-19 severity (case levels, hospitalizations, deaths) in a Canadian province leads to a fall of 3.1 to 4.9% in exports and a 6.7% to 9.1% fall in imports. Decomposing our analysis by industry, we determine that trade in the manufacturing industry was most negatively affected by the pandemic, while the agriculture industry suffered the least disruption to trade flows. Our descriptive evidence suggests that lockdowns may have also reduced Canadian exports and imports. However, while our regression coefficients are consistent with that finding, they are not statistically significant, perhaps because of the lack of variation due to similar timing in the imposition of restrictions across provinces.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Trachtenberg

This paper uses data on policy measures affecting services operation and trade to document and estimate the impact of different types of policy measures on services exports and imports, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. It finds that market-entry measures are important to both total services exports and imports in the region and bilateral trade flows with the United States, while measures relating to the operation of service providers are important for bilateral trade flows with the United States.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Maria Cipollina ◽  
Federica Demaria

Nowadays, trade negotiations afford both liberalism- and protectionism-oriented policies. Indeed, in recent decades, the developed countries have been actively engaged in negotiating many preferential agreements to integrate developing countries (DCs) into world trade and encourage their economic growth, but many of these schemes contrast with the complex rules, often imposed on international markets, that still are an obstacle for exporters. Their presence and related costs reduce the importance of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in increasing trade flows. This article attempts to assess the impact of preferential trade policies on trade flows controlling for different non-tariff barriers (NTBs), using a structural gravity model. The analysis uses disaggregated data, registered in the year 2017, on EU imports (defined at level HS-6 digit) from a large number of exporters (187 developed and developing countries) and also includes the intra-EU trade. Our results show robust and positive estimates for the impact of preferences on bilateral trade flows, however, higher non-tariff barriers are likely to play a role in reducing both the extensive margins of trade, and so tariff preferences alone are not sufficient to access international markets. The impact of NTBs on the intensive margin of trade is ambiguous; some measures may act as catalysts and therefore increase trade, and others may act as an additional cost of trade and thus hinder trade.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAURO VIGANI ◽  
VALENTINA RAIMONDI ◽  
ALESSANDRO OLPER

AbstractThis paper quantifies the effect of GMO regulation on bilateral trade flows of agricultural products. We develop a composite index of GMO regulations and using a gravity model we show that bilateral differences in GMO regulation negatively affect trade flows. This effect is especially driven by labeling, approval process, and traceability. Our results are robust to the endogeneity of GMO standards to trade flows.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (Special Edition) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musleh-ud Din Musleh-ud Din ◽  
Ejaz Ghani ◽  
Usman Qadir

This paper examines the prospects of expanding bilateral trade between Pakistan and China particularly in the context of the recently signed free trade agreement between the two countries. Using the augmented gravity model in the tradition of Rose (2004), the paper shows that there is significant potential for the expansion of bilateral trade between the two countries as a result of the free trade agreement. The paper also analyzes bilateral trade flows between the two countries in terms of a trade specialization index and the Grubel-Lloyd index of intra-industry trade. We show that bilateral trade between the two countries is heavily tilted in favor of China and that this situation may persist in the short term.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Crump

AbstractIt is unusual to find a negotiation not linked to at least one other negotiation. In some domains, such as international trade policy, we can identify negotiation networks with parties simultaneously involved in negotiations in global, multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade policy settings. A single party (i.e., a national government) will manage similar issues in all four settings and also manage these same issues with multiple parties in a single setting. International trade policy is one of many "linkage-rich" environments.This study examines the relationship between two discrete but linked treaty negotiations: the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement of 2003 (SAFTA) and the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement of 2003 (USSFTA). Case analysis identifies five structural factors that enhance the potential and fundamentally shape the nature of negotiation linkage dynamics. If linkage occurs then role theory can be employed to define two functional role types, a link-pin party (Singapore in this study) and linked parties (Australia and the United States). Such theory and case analysis support the development of propositions and help establish guidance for managing negotiation behavior. Key structural characteristics that appear to create linkage dynamics in this study are used to build a four-part structural framework that maps the universe of negotiation-linkage phenomena and determines the fundamental nature of four discrete linkage conditions. This framework also provides descriptive and prescriptive guidance for managing strategy and power in linked negotiations.


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