Posts tagged…Wto
Multilateralism not a ‘single undertaking’
Wed, Jan 06 2010More commentary—this time from the President of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations—on the significance of the Copenhagen meeting as one of the first signs of whatever-it-turns-out-to-be that follows the pax atlantica
"Multilateralism in the 21st century is, like the century itself, likely to be more fluid and, at times, messy than what we are used to." Extract from Richard Haass in the Global governance in the aughties Sun, Dec 27 2009
First, bodice-ripping as political theory
"We live in an era in which unprecedented globalization and economic interdependence, liberal-democratic hegemony, nanotechnology, robotic warfare, the 'infosphere,' nuclear proliferation and geoengineering solutions to climate change coexist with the return of powerful autocratic-capitalist states, of a new Great Game in Central Asia, of imperialism in…What explains tariff levels?
Fri, Dec 04 2009
It's not economic policy (or even necessity) as much as the political economy that drives trade policies.
"The relationship between the overall tariff policy (considering all product groups together) and the socio-economic variables is even more diffuse, and no strong relationship emerges between tariff policy clusters and the socio-economic context. Consequently, we can conclude that trade…Will the G-20 save Doha?
Sun, Sep 27 2009
Probably not. The discount on this, the lastest of their promises, is deservedly steep according to the Global Trade Alert website.
It's not a problem of mendacity or lack of 'political courage'. There is simply no consensus on the liberalizing mandate of Doha among this group; we've tested that proposition to exhaustion in the past eight years. The G20 is effectively the same group that has been…
Modeling a Doha agreement on agriculture
Tue, Jul 07 2009
To conclude my series of posts on modeling a critical mass agreement on agriculture, I would like to show you how I set up UNCTAD's Agricultural Trade Policy Simulation Model (ATPSM) to project the economic impacts of an agreement to liberalize agricultural trade based on WTO's December, 2008, draft 'modalities'. In my previous post, I compared the results of this simulation with the results of…
Critical mass agreement vs the Doha Round
Thu, Jul 02 2009
We'll cut to the chase, shall we, in this fourth of my posts on modeling the impact of a 'critical mass' agreement in agriculture? Click on the tags at the left-side or at the bottom of this article to find the earlier posts.
A 'critical mass' agreement among 38 countries that account for 80 percent of world trade in the 30 top-traded agricultural products (all of them food) to eliminate import…
Modeling ‘critical mass’ trade agreements
Mon, Jun 15 2009
In the past couple of weeks, I've been modeling the economic impacts of an alternative way to open up world agricultural markets using 'critical mass' trade agreements.
I thought I would share some of the results of the modeling with you, here on my website, over the next couple of weeks.
The simulations run inside the trade model suggest that there would be huge wins from adopting a new, more…
Two tracks out of the Doha wasteland?
Thu, May 28 2009
Pascal Lamy wants to stir up more action in the WTO's Doha negotiations —at least its appearance—by opening up a 'second front' for the exchanges. One group will battle on to refine the technical rules and one will start a 'show and tell' exploration of the implementation of the rules.
"My own sense is that there is scope to work on these two areas along two simultaneous tracks. One would see…What if WTO forgot about the rules?
Thu, May 14 2009
If you can't agree on what to do, then don't agree. Just, um… do it™.
This—believe it or not— is the latest idea from the bored squad of WTO delegates who find themselves with nothing much to negotiate while trade is in an unprecedented slump and the Doha Round lies on a slab in the cool room.
Their thinking—which they tested with new US Trade Representative Ron Kirk during his recent visit to…
Anti-dumping actions on the rise
Fri, May 08 2009
Let me first of all get in an 'I told you so'.
Anti-dumping complaints are counter-cyclical. Invariably, the numbers rise, with a lag, as industrial output slumps. We've seen declining levels up to 2007 but now… WTO is reporting a 27% year-on-year rise in the number of investigations.
"The Members reporting the highest number of new initiations during July-December 2008 were India, reporting 42,…Quibble over ‘slippage’ on protection
Tue, Apr 28 2009
Meanwhile in Geneva… the WTO delegations have been debating whether the Secretariat's second report on protectionist measures (issued a month ago) showed 'significant slippage' in Member governments' commitment to hold the line, or not.
The U.S. ambassador disagreed with the proposition that Member governments had begun to default on their promises.
“We understand the danger of an incremental…Where will Kirk take the Doha entreprise?
Wed, Apr 15 2009
Australia's Trade Minister, Simon Crean, is doggedly faithful to the Doha round. He has recently visited Ron Kirk, the new US Trade representative. No doubt, to gee him up.
But the peak United States industry groups have it right in their letter to the new US President. There cannot be an ambitious outcome in WTO negotiations unless there is substantial degree reciprocity from those developing…
Read more…
