Posts tagged…Wto
Growth rate of regional trade agreements
Wed, Apr 08 2009
It is often said that the growth in the number of RTAs has been 'exponential'. Thanks to the WTO's database of RTAs it's now easy to keep tab of the trend. Here's what it looks like as of March 2009.
G20 communiqué an improvement
Fri, Apr 03 2009If you read the undertakings on trade and protectionism—with only a moderately skeptical eye—as a firm undertaking, it is not as "wooly" as the critics claim. On the contrary, it is a substantial improvement on other recent efforts and streets ahead of the wobbly paragraph 13 of their November 2008 communiqué.
The underlined phrases (my emphasis) are the significant parts. They make the…
Read more…A WTO ‘code’ on carbon tariffs
Thu, Apr 02 2009Gary Hufbauer, Steve Charnovitz and Jisun Kim from the Peterson Institute have produced a small book that recommends a way to deal with the vexing—but probably inevitable— conflict between future UNEP obligations to control GHG emissions and WTO provisions on keeping markets free from regulatory distortions at, and behind, the border for goods and services.
The book helpfully and accurately…
Empty words won’t limit the ‘wriggle room’
Tue, Mar 24 2009Democracy ensures we get the governments we deserve.
Gideon Rachman seems to think we deserve only to be consoled for the political dilemma of G20 leaders rather than offered real solutions to the frailties of the global trade framework. He agrees the problem is the threat of 'wiggle room' protection:
"[I]f the world’s political leaders start deliberately increasing barriers to trade, they will…
Teachers’ kits on WTO - Keeping the peace
Tue, Mar 17 2009
The final installment (for now) of my Teachers Kits on WTO, designed to help teachers in junior, middle and high schools deliver classes on WTO as part of, for example, a civics curriculum. The kits were commissioned by the WTO.
This installment concerns WTO dispute settlement: a subject that might be too advanced for junior school, so this kit contains class materials only for middle and high…
Rodrik’s Plan B for global finance
Tue, Mar 17 2009
"[T]he logic of global financial regulation is flawed. The world economy will be far more stable and prosperous with a thin veneer of international co-operation superimposed on strong national regulations than with attempts to construct a bold global regulatory and supervisory framework. The risk we run is that pursuing an ambitious goal will detract us from something that is more desirable and…
Dolphin-Tuna: here we go again…
Thu, Mar 12 2009The Mexican government has called for a reprise of one of the most controversial 'environmental' disputes ever bought to the GATT: the US—Dolphin-Tuna case. The case, then and now, concerns an attempt by the United States to use an import barrier to extend it's own 'dolphin-friendly' fishing regulations in an extra-territorial way to Mexican fishermen… or maybe just to block the entry of…
Finding data on WTO Agriculture agreements
Mon, Mar 09 2009The WTO's framework of trade agreements for agricultural policies is complex. The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (supplemented by rules in the GATT, the Subsidies Agreement and the SPS Agreement) regulates the external impacts of countries' border barriers and the impact of their internal market manipulation policies on external competition. It's impossible to make useful assessments of the…
Can the G20 halt ‘murky’ protectionism?
Sun, Mar 08 2009
What should the G20 do, when they meet in London next month, to put an end to the growing use of what I've been calling 'wiggle-room' protection? Is 'murky' protectionism causing the coming collapse in trade volumes? Or will protectionism rise as a result? Supposing that they wanted to, could the G20 really crack-down on actions that close markets or discriminate against imports but are not…
Teacher’s Kit on WTO — Trade in Goods
Fri, Feb 13 2009
Time to continue my series of posts publishing the Teacher’s Kits on WTO, including class materials for Middle and Senior Schools, class exercises, and Teacher’s Notes.
Last time, I published links to the PDF files for the lessons called ‘About the WTO’. This time, two PDF files for lessons titled ‘Trade in Goods’.
Rodrik re-inventing the WTO’s wheel
Mon, Feb 09 2009I agree with Dani Rodrik's analysis, showing that strong global financial regulation won't work.
"Ken [Rogoff]'s preference for a 'global financial regulator with real teeth' overlooks three major problems. Global financial regulation is a bad idea because it is neither desirable, nor prudent, nor feasible. It is not desirable because countries at different levels of development and with…
Trade agreements and trade policy
Tue, Feb 03 2009Yesterday, I noted that for all the changes that have taken place in the trading system since the world last faced such a dramatic downturn in trade and production, there remains one question now that is more or less the same as the questions posed in the 1930s:
"… will trade agreements help to forestall these policy mistakes and encourage collaborative solutions? Or does our experience of the…