Exchange Rate and Trade in Services Nexus in Nigeria: A Non-Linear ARDL Approach

A nonlinear ARDL model is employed to investigate the asymmetric drivers of non-oil trade in services between Nigeria and Netherlands. A significant number of past studies have concentrated their attention on the elasticity of trade in services to real exchange rates and income as well as on non-oil export, total export trade or import, yet none have delve into asymmetric relationship. This study aims to fills this void. Our result shows that the effects of exchange rate variations have both positive and negative displays with more negative asymmetry. This provides further insights in the nature of service asymmetries. (JEL Codes: C22, D43, E31, L71, Q41) Keywords: asymmetric cointegration, exchange rate adjustment, disaggregated, services

Negotiating Trade in Services with China from the Uruguayan Perspective

We focus on trade in services, and we aim at assessing the concessions made by China when negotiating trade agreements. Additionally, we shed light on the opportunities that Uruguay may have in exporting services to China in case of signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The debate on this issue started in 2016 when Uruguayan President Vázquez visited China and with Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the possibility of signing a FTA. Since then, opposing arguments have been put forward. Unfortunately, the lack of bilateral information on trade in services is a limitation for this kind of studies. It is highlighted that there will be additional large gains which would emerge from trade in goods, cooperation or investments.

Trade in Services in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Overview of Trends, Costs, and Policies

Trade in services is becoming increasingly relevant. Changing technologies have transformed the landscape, making international trade possible in sectors that were once considered nontradable. But the lack of consistent, reliable data prevents analysts from fully understanding and accurately describing trade in services. Despite this limitation, this report aims to outline Latin America and the Caribbeans competitiveness in global services markets. It concludes that the region still focuses on traditional sectors like travel and transportation, despite some green shoots in nontraditional services, and that costs remain high in comparison with other regions of the world. Furthermore, the regulatory framework in the region is still weak, and although several modern trade agreements are already in place, there is still room for improvement. Sound policies to further develop trade in services and boost competitiveness in nontraditional sectors such as computer or business services would help the region to diversify its export baskets and build trade resilience.

An ex-post analysis of trade effects of the ASEAN–Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA) from Korea’s Perspective

This paper empirically analyzes the effectiveness of the ASEAN–Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA) focusing on the ex-post trade creation and diversion effects with controlling related intra-bloc and extra-bloc regional trade agreements (RTAs) and economic characteristics of interconnected economies. The quantitative analysis applies a gravity model regression analysis by specifying standard pooled ordinary least squares and fixed effects regression models. We observe that the AKFTA turned out to be more favorable for Korea in terms of trade balance with ASEAN. We find that the AKFTA is a desirable trade creating RTA strongly driven by intra-bloc export activities between members and does not divert but generates more export to and import from non-members. Thus, we strongly support that the AKFTA facilitates trade between intra-bloc members and their trade with extra-bloc non-members as well. Besides which, we find that the trade creation effects of the AKFTA are industry-specific and sector-specific. For the manufacturing industry, the trade creation effects of the AKFTA are generated by both intra-bloc and extra-bloc import activity but not from extra-bloc export activity. However, for the services industry, all the intra-bloc and extra-bloc export and import activities contribute to the trade creation effects. Interestingly, we find that the trade creation effects of the manufacturing industry are smaller than those of the services industry. Considering restrictive service schedules of specific commitments in the AKFTA agreement on trade-in services compared to trade-in goods provisions, rearranging the trade-in services provisions is necessary to generate more trade gains in the future.

Digital Services in International Trade Law

Digitisation has significantly impacted international trade. This book explains the impact of digitisation on trade in services, the ensuing concept of 'digital services' and the different types of trade barriers these services face. This book establishes that the legal framework that applies to trade in services also applies to digital services. It elaborates on the scope of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and how to classify digital services. The relevant GATS obligations are subsequently applied to several case studies that illustrate the barriers to digital services trade. These case studies demonstrate the impact of the applicability of GATS to digital services on countries' international obligations. Finally, the book maps the electronic commerce-related provisions in in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Six extensive e-commerce RTAs are compared in depth and it is considered whether they add substantially to the existing multilateral obligations applicable to digital services trade.