Search

Trade theories implicitly explain the significance of trade facilitation (TF) in increasing trade. Identifying the methodological gaps in the literature, this study assesses the effects of TF on international trade relative to internal trade under a theoretically consistent structural gravity model. The results suggest that countries' improved TF performance increases their agriculture and manufacturing trade. However, the ratification of the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) does not affect trade. The study observes differential effects of various dimensions of TF. Moreover, heterogeneity in the TF effects is found across different industries. These findings encourage countries to implement TF measures more seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CPTPP aims to achieve deep economic integration through substantive regulations. However, it falls short due to its de-institutionalized inter-state DSM and its dependence on the WTO DSM, which following the AB crisis is currently impaired. The question is whether structural and procedural revisions are needed within the CPTPP and WTO DSMs to effectively resolve current and future disputes. To answer this, the article conducts a comparative analysis of the two DSMs. It emphasizes the importance of aligning the WTO DSM with transformational deep agreements and establishing multilateral pillars for dispute settlement that recognize the ambitions of modern trade agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractInternational tribunals are pulled between a commitment to judicial autonomy and the need to manage their members’ political expectations, lest these rein in the tribunal’s power. We argue that when the formal design of international institutions leaves them exposed to political control, institutional actors can respond by self-imposing constraints to protect themselves from excessive oversight. We examine this phenomenon in the context of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body (AB), touted until recently as one of the most successful international tribunals in existence. We argue that the early insistence on collegiality and consensus opinions among WTO AB members had the effect of (i) deflecting political blame and (ii) providing cover for adjudicators who did not dissent when governments might have wished them to. As the informal norm of consensus opinion was weakened, political control by WTO members grew stronger, culminating in the United States’s move to paralyze the AB. Weaker actors can thus improve their position under formal rules, yet this requires a strong commitment to a set of informal norms, which comes with its own challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the question of choice between regionalism and multilateralism in trade relations of Central Asia introduced by Pomfret (2005). Our study is motivated by a significant restoration of economic links between the former Soviet republics following Russian accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and the formation of new trade ties with Vietnam, Iran, and Serbia. Above all, there have been substantial commitments made by the three Central Asian republics of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan toward a multilateral system under the WTO rules. To this end, we apply a multi-region gravity model with interdependent trade flows using bilateral trade data of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to study the ex-ante effects of economic integration with various bilateral, plurilateral, and multilateral partners. Our findings indicate the existence of considerable gains if the aforementioned economies would ascend to the EAEU in comparison to integration with China or Iran. We also document the presence of shared economic links between Tajikistan, Central Asia, and Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major economic rationale for trade agreements is limiting mutually harmful terms-of-trade externalities. We analyse the impact of market power on tariff commitments of original and acceded WTO members. As countries grow, their market power in different sectors can change in unforeseen ways. To quantify the economic significance of our estimates, we compare actual and predicted tariff commitments under current market power. We find that tariff cuts required to reflect current economic conditions would amount to up to $26.4 billion – nearly 10% of global tariff costs. In the past, the GATT/WTO system has updated tariff commitments through periodic 'rounds', and our findings support the long-overdue revival of the WTO's negotiation function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept for the extensive use of hydrogen as an energy carrier is not new but has regained traction recently. To drive the development of the hydrogen economy, national regulatory frameworks for the hydrogen economy are emerging in many parts of the world, including the European Union. The focus of this contribution is on the interaction of the emerging EU hydrogen policies and regulations with the rules of the WTO. The key finding is that conflicts between the norms of the EU and the WTO can be avoided, but policymakers need to act for this to be accomplished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of Asia-Pacific regionalism, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is in the process of establishing a single market. ASEAN member states conduct their industrial policies on their own but are also guided by the ASEAN legal framework. Having once been in the mainstream of government economic interventions, localization measures still continue to be in use in this region and today affect not only manufacturing but also data-reliant industries, erecting barriers to the advancement of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Southeast Asian countries, like many others, have widely utilized various forms of subsidies as a means of promoting domestic industries. Because of their trade-distortive effects, localization measures and subsidies are disciplined by the World Trade Organization. With the focus on ASEAN member states, this article discusses localization and subsidy issues as addressed under trade rules and outlines some tasks for the ASEANization of industrial policies to deepen regional integration and strengthen ASEAN's unity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world economy is witnessing the rapid digitization of global production, trade, and consumption of goods and services, which is significantly impacting economic activities in both developing and least developed countries. In this article, we examine and review the evolving framework of the national e-commerce policy in India and map digital policies in the broader contours of the industrial policy framework. Findings of this article show that interventionist policies such as localization of data and restrictions on cross-border data flows are vital for building domestic digital infrastructure, firms, platforms, and capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV2 infection allowed testing of mRNA vaccines that translate the target antigen, unlike introducing antigens in traditional vaccines. It proved safer and more effective and, as a chemical vaccine, much easier to develop and manufacture. The science and technology behind the mRNA vaccines are pertinent to establishing low-cost manufacturing of reverse-engineered mRNA vaccines, as suggested by the WHO. A stepwise approach to establishing a compliant manufacturing facility, testing, supply chain, regulatory submissions, and intellectual property handling is presented. mRNA technology is more straightforward, and the cost of establishing a manufacturing facility is affordable, even in developing countries. The technology and supplies are widely available; however, based on experience, several misconceptions and misunderstandings about mRNA vaccines need to be removed, such as the regulatory and intellectual property issues that are resolved in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, the world faced a new pandemic. The corona infection hit an unprepared world, and there were no medicines and no vaccines against it. Research to develop vaccines started immediately and in a remarkably short time several vaccines became available. However, despite initiatives for global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, vaccines have so far become accessible only to a minor part of the world population. In this article, I discuss the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines from an ethical point of view. I reflect on what ethical principles should guide the global distribution of vaccines and what global justice and international solidarity imply for vaccine distribution and I analyse the reasons for states to prioritize their own citizens. My focus is on ethical reasons for and against 'vaccine nationalism' and 'vaccine cosmopolitanism.' My point of departure is the appeal for international solidarity from several world leaders, arguing that 'Where you live should not determine whether you live'. I discuss the COVAX initiative to enable a global vaccination and the proposal from India and South Africa to the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive patent rights for vaccines. In the final section, I argue for global vaccine sufficientarianism, which is a modified version of vaccine cosmopolitanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex interconnected issues, interests and factors that led the BJP Government in India to introduce the Three Farm Laws in what it claimed were progressive and subsequently repealed following the successful protests by farmers who saw them as threats to their livelihoods and culture and further resistance by states fighting off encroachment on their powers are multifaced. These include persistent political tensions in India's asymmetrical federalism, fears around livelihoods, concerns of cultural annihilation, effects of market orientated World Trade Organization rules and efforts by the CAIRN group of countries to penetrate the Indian market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the implications of the rise of new powers in the Global South for a central principle of global order: the distinction between the 'North' and the 'South', or 'developed' and 'developing countries', that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. In doing so, we assess whether, and if so, how, the increasing tension between the binary 'North–South' distinction and growing heterogeneity within the Global South – as evidenced by the rise of emerging economies – has been reflected in the rules of multilateral trade policymaking. In the case of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the 'North–South' categorisation forms the basis of the legal principle of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) that grants special rights to developing countries. To trace the evolution of SDT, we analyse legal developments and processes of contestation based on our conceptualisation of possible options for adaptation: graduation, individualisation and fragmentation. Drawing on a dataset of WTO decisions and agreements from 1995 to 2019, we find that the group of developing countries increasingly competes with other groups of disadvantaged countries for equity-based differential treatment. The resulting fragmentation contributes to the unmaking of the North–South distinction as a central ordering principle in global trade politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disease burden in South Asia is complex and multifaceted: old, new, re-emerging and newly recognised conditions all coexist and interact in ways that we have yet to fully understand. The characteristics of COVID-19 have stressed these comorbidities. A discussion on longevity and the theory of epidemiological transition is followed by an analysis of the Indian experience with infectious and non-infectious diseases, injuries and inflammatory conditions, as an illustration of what has been happening in South Asia more generally. These conditions are not hermetically sealed from each other with comorbidities frequently the cause of death even if the official data does not reveal this. In the final part of this essay, the significance of the research findings in the other five papers that comprise this collection are discussed: these deal with the role of hospitals, new diagnostic and drug technologies and the question of 'elite capture' as an explanation for the high cost of medical care for the poor. The collection presents case studies from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Our collective approach has been to see the disease burden and health-care responses through a political economy of death and disease, and to link that with insights from ethnographic research and case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cost of medicines in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. Over the last forty years, Bangladesh, a Least Developed Country (LDC), has nurtured a local industry based on strong industrial policy and a pharmaceutical patent-free system. Of the 46 LDCs in the world, it is the only one to have a thriving industry of this kind. In this paper, we explore how a relatively poor LDC managed to take on the dominance of MNCs in the global production of pharmaceuticals. We focus on the 1982 National Drug Policy (NDP) which transformed the pharmaceutical sector in Bangladesh from one in which three-quarters of drugs were supplied by just eight MNCs to one where almost all domestic demand is met by local industry. The thriving local pharmaceutical industry also exports generic medicines to 147 different countries. In 2026, Bangladesh is due to graduate to 'Developing Country' status, at which time, as a member of the WTO, Bangladesh will have to abide by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Under TRIPS it will have to change its patent regime to allow for the registration of pharmaceutical patents by 2029. Using interview data with key Bangladeshi experts, we argue that TRIPS compliance could potentially wipe out this flourishing local pharmaceutical industry, leading to steep increases in the cost of essential medicines, with dire implications for the right to health. We explore policy options open to the Bangladesh government to protect affordable drugs in the country, in particular protection for the production of domestic generics in a post-TRIPS environment. We also argue that there are ways in which Bangladesh and India could co-operate to protect the affordability of high-quality medicines for domestic and international markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have played a key role in China's economic growth. In the new era after China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, MNCs have seen unprecedented growth opportunities as well as challenges in China. This systematic literature review of 42 peer-reviewed journal articles from 2001 to 2019 analyzes the factors that have influenced knowledge transfer in MNCs' networks in China. We identify knowledge spillover and reverse spillover that are critical in knowledge transfer in China. Practical implications are provided for fledgling MNCs that are planning to invest in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of 'behind-the-border' issues has become a major challenge for the global trading system. Why are some trade-related issues integrated in the strongly judicialized WTO with its dispute settlement system, while others are governed in isolation from the trade regime? Contributing to the literature on WTO issue boundaries, the paper highlights the role of uncertainty and demand for transgovernmental regulatory cooperation as drivers of regime outcomes. I argue that high technical and political uncertainty delays GATT/WTO integration of trade-related issues in favour of a soft-law trade pathway. A further-reaching separation from the trade regime occurs when uncertainty remains high and national regulatory authorities exhibit a demand for trade-separate cooperation with foreign counterparts. Case studies on government procurement and competition policy substantiate the argument. Government procurement has been integrated into the GATT/WTO trade regime under a market access agenda pursued by EU and US trade actors, but only after uncertainty had been reduced in technical soft-law trade talks at the OECD. Conversely, in competition policy – despite repeated efforts at GATT/WTO integration – cooperation has thrived in less judicialized transgovernmental networks such as the International Competition Network, driven by competition agencies eager to solve regulatory cooperation problems independently from the trade regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since starting its economic reform four decades ago, China has been highly successful in integrating its economy into regional and global value chains (GVCs). This started with simple assembly and processing, then expanded to low-end labor-intensive manufacturing, and gradually moved up to technology-intensive and capital-intensive industries. This article analyzes the development of Chinese law, legal institutions, and international and transnational legal initiatives to support the development of GVCs, which we divide into five phases. The article does not idealize law in terms of 'commitment' or 'rule of law,' but rather, in the legal realist tradition, views law as an important, contributing factor in economic change. It presents law as a signalling and coordinative device that serves to channel private conduct for business planning and coordination. The article provides insights for understanding current developments in the trading system and their implications for regional and global value chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines the role of Crimea in the Russian state, beginning with a justification of the legality of the region's annexation as both a reflection of the historical connection between Crimea and Russia and the result of the illegitimacy of the post-coup government in Ukraine. He then turns to the potential role of the integration of Crimea as a national project that could revive Russia while allowing its leaders to root out traitors and other undesirables from among the Russian elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Indonesia's conflicting roles in global trade governance, particularly in the Doha Development Round. This article argues that multilateral trade governance is utilised by Indonesian foreign policymakers to be the arena for Indonesia's aspiration to exercise a greater role at the global level. This aspiration is reflected in its support towards liberalisation agenda at the global level. However, the commitments made, as well as the rhetoric calling for a more liberalised multilateral trading system within the Round, are not in line with Indonesia's protectionist-leaning domestic trade policies. This condition, arguably, is the result of the co-optation of trade policy in Doha Round by the Indonesian foreign policy agenda. While the Ministry of Trade has full authority to formulate trade negotiation position, Indonesia's aspiration for international status pursued by foreign policymakers has significantly influenced its trade policy agenda in the Doha Round. Thus, Indonesia's behaviour in the Doha Round can only be interpreted as role-playing in which Indonesia 'play the role' to enhance its international status rather than based its position on coherent domestic economic interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the food regime concept has become an important approach for addressing the global food trade, most of its applications have utilized qualitative methods. This article applies a quantitative social network analysis (SNA) and a more-than-qualitative relational approach, drawing from the geography literature to explore regional food regimes in Asia in the World Trade Organization (WTO) era. Employing data from the Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) and the Design of Trade Agreements (DESTA) project database, this paper's analysis of the governance of Asian regional vegetable trade networks reveals the multiplicity inherent in food regimes under the WTO. In this context, the topologies of food regimes—including degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality—reveal the emergence of a multi-polar food system in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

President Trump is widely seen as reversing 70 years of US trade policy and abdicating the American hegemon's traditional leadership role in the multilateral trading system. Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the WTO, abandoned trade multilateralism for aggressive unilateralism, and jeopardised the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism by blocking appointments to its Appellate Body. As this article shows, however, both the crisis in the multilateral trading system and the American hegemon's turn away from the WTO – including abandoning multilateral trade negotiations and blocking Appellate Body appointments – originated prior to Trump. This shift in the US orientation towards the multilateral trading system cannot, therefore, solely be attributed to the rise of populism under Trump. It is also a reaction to the decline of the US's institutional power – its power over the core institution and rules governing trade. Amid the rise of China and other emerging powers, the US's ability to dominate global trade governance and write the rules of global trade sharply diminished, leading to an erosion of American support for the multilateral trading system it once led. While realism has fallen out of favour in IPE, understanding recent dynamics in the trading system requires revisiting its core insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, Indonesia officially filled a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over a dispute regarding the US import ban on clove cigarettes. Despite the fierce exchange of arguments in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), in 2014, Indonesia and the US agreed to cease the formal pursuit and resolve trade disputes through signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) encompassing a more comprehensive trade partnership. This paper examines the reasons behind Indonesia's preference for settling the clove cigarette dispute by signing the MoU with the US, stemming from the Indonesian Government's perception of the shared benefits generated and WTO DSB's institutional weaknesses. The MoU also allows the Indonesian Government to advance its foreign policy agenda and its trade diplomacy objectives, offering broader sets of advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to investigate how the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (and of the Customs Union, its predecessor organisation) affected the way Eurasian countries interact with the WTO. There exists a large literature on the tensions between the regional economic integration and the multilateral trade system; adjusting its arguments for the case of the post-Soviet Eurasia, I ask whether establishment of the CU/EAEU reduced the interest of Eurasian countries towards the WTO membership, constrained them in the WTO negotiations or affected their commitments towards the WTO. For the first two questions, I find that the CU/EAEU did not make WTO membership less desirable or feasible. My findings with respect to the third question are ambiguous. Overall, the paper concludes that Eurasian regionalism does not constitute a major constraint for the Eurasian countries' participation in the multilateral trade system (at least for the large countries). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The USMCA is a landmark trade agreement for the digital ecosystem that will create a strong foundation for the expansion of trade, investment, and innovation. The USMCA sets a new global high standard protecting the free flow of data beyond what is covered in the WTO. The USMCA along with WTO standards help in harnessing digital trade for prosperity by enabling free access, a secure market, and low barriers to growth. However, the USMCA is likely to become the model for future free trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the EU's Aid for Trade (AfT) initiative contribute to global justice? Complementing work that considers distributive justice, in this paper we adopt the central tenets of the republican theory of non-domination as a regulative ideal for justice in international relations. We evaluate the extent to which the EU's AfT initiative results from reduced political domination in international trade negotiations, and if that then mitigates economic dependency between European and African states. We first provide a qualitative account of the processes that led to the establishment and subsequent development of AfT. We then consider the extent to which the AfT has promoted the reliance of African states on European foreign direct investment (FDI) relative to FDI from other regions (including and especially from within Africa itself) using subnational, project-level, data. Our findings suggest that EU AfT does not reinforce dominating forms of dependency in the international arena, at least when measured by the source of the FDI that it attracts, while AfT is itself an outcome of somewhat less dominating power relations in trade negotiations between wealthier and poorer states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has drawn massive benefits via expanded trade since it acceded to the WTO in 2001. We might therefore reasonably expect it to have taken a more assertive lead in trying to rectify the travails in which the organisation finds itself mired, attendant with its rising power status, its active trade diplomacy elsewhere, the high levels of relative gains it has enjoyed since becoming a member, and its broader trade dependency. That China has not done so represents a puzzle, which is usually answered with reference to the international picture: i.e. that global trade has appeared to be holding up reasonably well throughout and beyond the global crisis, and, despite some inchoate protectionism, there generally exists a broad commitment to an open trading regime. Yet this only tells part of the story: China's approach cannot simply be 'read off' from the structural context and there are, in fact, a series of interesting domestic explanations for why China has remained a 'reluctant leader' of the WTO too. On the basis of a series of interviews with Chinese experts, we offer a more complete account of these processes that better recognises patterns of agency, and how China navigates a contingent international order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liberal international economic and political order which the United States created from the ashes of World War II and has since led is in trouble. To United States President Donald Trump, the order which provided the framework under which sovereign states agreed to follow a rules-based system of economic and political cooperation and shared multilateral governance, has not only allowed other nations (in particular, China) to take advantage of US 'magnanimity', but also weakened the United States economically, while asymmetric alliances compromised its military advantages. Given the sustained assault this cosmopolitan order is facing, many fear that it may not survive if Trump is re-elected in November 2020. Indeed, if the United States response to the COVID-19 pandemic is any guide, an 'America First' agenda, especially a hard-line approach to China, will shape US policy if Trump wins a second term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates discursive struggles over the boundaries of the categorisation of developing countries in the world trade regime. A key principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO) grants special rights to the group of developing countries. Recently, it has become highly contested whether emerging economies such as China can legitimately claim to belong to the group of developing countries. This article uncovers how old and new economic powers have tried to strategically (re)frame the boundaries of the developing country categorisation in the WTO. I argue that ongoing contestation reproduces inequalities because many developing countries are unwittingly negatively affected by the lack of formal criteria for classifying emerging economies—even if emerging economies themselves may benefit. In doing so, I illustrate how informal practices of classification may undermine the original intention of categorisation in International Organizations that aims to address inequality among its members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent mobilization against core tenets of the liberal international order suggests that international institutions lack sufficient societal legitimacy. We argue that these contestations are part of a legitimation dynamic that is endogenous to the political authority of international institutions. We specify a mechanism in which international authority increases the likelihood for the public politicization of international institutions. This undermines legitimacy in the short run, but also allows broadening the justificatory basis of global governance: Politicization allows civil society organizations (CSOs) to transmit alternative legitimation standards to global elite discourses. We trace this sequence for four key institutions of global economic governance – the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and the NAFTA – combining data on authority and protest counts with markers for CSOs and legitimation narratives in more than 120,000 articles in international elite newspapers during 1992–2012. The uncovered patterns are consistent with a perspective that understands legitimation dynamics as an endogenous feature of international authority, but they also show that alternative legitimation narratives did not lastingly resonate in the global discourse thus far. This may explain current backlashes and calls for active re-legitimation efforts on part of international institutions themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent mobilization against core tenets of the liberal international order suggests that international institutions lack sufficient societal legitimacy. We argue that these contestations are part of a legitimation dynamic that is endogenous to the political authority of international institutions. We specify a mechanism in which international authority increases the likelihood for the public politicization of international institutions. This undermines legitimacy in the short run, but also allows broadening the justificatory basis of global governance: Politicization allows civil society organizations (CSOs) to transmit alternative legitimation standards to global elite discourses. We trace this sequence for four key institutions of global economic governance – the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and the NAFTA – combining data on authority and protest counts with markers for CSOs and legitimation narratives in more than 120,000 articles in international elite newspapers during 1992–2012. The uncovered patterns are consistent with a perspective that understands legitimation dynamics as an endogenous feature of international authority, but they also show that alternative legitimation narratives did not lastingly resonate in the global discourse thus far. This may explain current backlashes and calls for active re-legitimation efforts on part of international institutions themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the important connection between corporate longevity, social responsibility and intellectual property rights (IPR) assets in the context of sustainability. Society is demanding greater transparency of the footprint corporate entities leave on the planet as a result of how their business model is activated. The private sector response necessary to operate sustainably in the long term is critically examined specifically in connection with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9). SDG 9 aims to 'Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation'. Certain characteristics of companies in the century club are contrasted with those of the younger MNEs with IP-reliant digital business models to illustrate the important connection between innovation, IP, sustainability and corporate longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (CFPJ) is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores why the European Union (EU)'s promotion of Russia's market liberalization has failed to generate the desired outcome. It takes as its starting point the Russian annexation of Crimea, and the question of whether the political rupture in 2014 constitutes a watershed in the EU-Russian trade and energy relationship. The sanctions targeting Russia for its actions in Ukraine, and the Russian counter-embargo, constrain the room for manoeuvre of businesses, but have not resulted in a decisive shift in the EU-Russian trade and energy relationship. The article finds that very limited progress had been made on key contentious issues throughout the decade preceding the breakdown of their political relations. Rather, the main shift took place with Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2012, which provided the EU with tools of compellence. The EU's market policies have achieved very little resonance in Russia of their own accord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's dairy farmers have spent the last 40 years fighting to preserve their supply management system despite increases in the desire to liberalize trade through the expansion of regional free trade agreements and the targeting of agriculture in recent rounds of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). How has Canada's supply management system resisted trade liberalization thus far? Moreover, what strategies have Canadian dairy farmers used to lobby the government to preserve this system? The answer to these questions lay within the intersection of culture and economics. Canadian dairy farmers have been successful in framing Canadian dairy as a distinctly Canadian cultural commodity, and therefore framing supply management as the economic tool needed to defend this cultural commodity. In exploring this topic, this article will touch on Canada's history of preserving cultural institutions, as well as the historical importance of Canada's supply management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past century, the 'culture and trade' debate has constantly evolved, particularly in the wake of rapid and still accelerating technological and scientific advances. These changes, manifest in an increasing convergence of many new technologies and industries, meant that the strict separation of culture from trade by means, for instance, of general or special exceptions in international trade agreements, such as the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) or the 1988 Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), can no longer be sustained. It means that in light of the emergence of oxymoronic concepts like 'the cultural and creative industries', the debate can no longer be framed along binary modes of thinking that oppose the liberalization of international trade and the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultures. Instead a more holistic approach seems to be needed, which appears to coincide with the approach taken by the People's Republic of China (PRC), which joined the WTO in 2001. The present paper examines the holistic approach by the PRC, which seeks to combine rather than separate culture and trade in its domestic, regional and global law and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain countries stand out as having distinctive approaches to trade and culture. Canada occupies a key position in this pantheon of distinctive approaches. Since the 1980s, Canada has pursued a 'cultural exemption' in its various trade agreements. The perception is that it has largely maintained this exemption, however I will show in this article that each iteration of the exemption differs from the others in subtle but noteworthy ways. These differences stem in large part from the nature of the particular trade agreement negotiations and the identity of the specific trading partner(s). Ultimately, the aim of this contribution is to show that Canada's cultural exemption strategy has had to evolve alongside key trends in trade, notably the proliferation of free trade agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Technical Measures to Trade' is a term coined by Chinese scholars and practitioners. It is closely related to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but it is not a WTO term. Chinese scholars and managers also have a different understanding and classification of the concepts and categories of Technical Measures to Trade, which brings difficulties to the research and practice of international and Chinese scholars and also has a negative impact on the transparency of relevant laws and regulations of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores why the Philippines’ automotive industry has been less successful than those of its Southeast Asian neighbours, despite its long history of automotive production. We stress policy inconsistency, lack of demand-side policy signals and weak state capacity as explanations, although past policies were successful in developing exports of a few key automotive components. The 2015 Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) hopes to rejuvenate the industry but faces challenges from the lack of a diversified local components sector, continued competition from imported second-hand vehicles and likely competition under free trade agreements, particularly with South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the UK's accession to the then European Economic Community in 1973, Australia was a significant supplier of Britain's food. Membership of the European Union (EU) resulted in trade diversion, closing the British market to Australian sugar, for example. This article questions whether the UK's exit from the EU ('Brexit') might usher in a new agri-food trade regime, restoring Australian farmers' access to the British market, or whether other opposing political economy considerations might prevail. Would the UK unilaterally adopt free trade? Can a comprehensive free trade area agreement between Australia and the UK, including agri-food products, be negotiated? Any new relationship will need to reflect the UK government's stated preference for a frictionless border with EU 27 (particularly on the island of Ireland), the World Trade Organization's rule book, and the interests of the UK's farm lobbies, as well as the UK's quest for 'free trade' with the wider international community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The different legal worldviews of WTO and UNESCO on trade and culture vividly illustrate the formidable challenges we face nowadays to deliver legal and policy coherence in global governance. Bridging the trade and culture policy divide in this area requires stronger inter-agency dialog and cooperation, starting with joint initiatives for improved policy-oriented statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper peers backwards into the history of the multilateral trading system and its development over the past half century as a means of considering what may lie beyond the horizon for the future of global trade governance. Its purpose is to underscore the necessity and urgency for root-and-branch reform of the multilateral trading system. It achieves this by comparing and contrasting the global trading system of 50 years ago with its modern-day equivalent and its likely future counterpart half-a-century hence. In so doing, the paper throws into sharp relief not only the inadequacies of global trade governance today but also the damaging consequences of not fundamentally reforming the system in the near future, with a particular emphasis on the past, present and future development of the world’s poorest and most marginalised countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role assigned to culture in general and to cultural industries and diversity in particular by the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Although it pursues further economic liberalization, the arrangement is about much more than trade: its preamble, for instance, contains a reference to the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Nevertheless, the text lacks a general exception clause protecting culture. This paper examines the consolidated CETA text from the perspective of political economy to clarify to what extent this is an opportunity to reconcile rules of free trade with cultural policies aiming to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, especially when the latter derive from cultural industries in both analogue and digital scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are currently negotiating World Trade Organization (WTO)-compatible reciprocal economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), agreements intended to supersede the one-sided trade preferences of the Lomé Convention. This study focuses on impediments which have bedevilled the EU–East and Southern Africa (ESA) negotiations for a transition from an interim EPA to a comprehensive EPA. These talks, which ran from 2007 to 2014, followed the expiry of a WTO waiver and the ESA's successful resistance to elements of the EU's agenda considered offensive, despite envisaged benefits provided for by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement of 2000 calling for EPAs. The study is based on qualitative primary research in which data from interviews was augmented by a synthesis of secondary sources and analysed through a thematic coding system. Findings reveal asymmetrical power relations, a marked heterogeneity in the ESA and outstanding issues in the interim EPA and WTO regulations as major impediments to the transition to a comprehensive EPA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tax havens and tax flight have lately received increasing attention, while interest toward multilateral trade policies has somewhat diminished. We argue that more attention needs to be paid exactly to the interrelations between trade and tax policies. Drawing from two case studies on Panama's trade disputes, we show how World Trade Organization (WTO) rules can be used both to resist attempts to sanction secrecy structures and to promote measures against tax flight. The theory of new constitutionalism can help to explain how trade treaties can ‘lock in’ tax policies. However, our case studies show that trade policy not only ‘locks in’ democratic policy-making, but also enables tax havens to use their commercialized sovereignty to resists anti-secrecy measures. What is being ‘locked in’ are the policy tools, not necessarily the policies. The changing relationship between trade and tax policies can also create new and unexpected tools for tackling tax evasion, underlining the importance of epistemic arbitrage in the context of new constitutionalism. In principle, political actors with sufficient technical and juridical knowledge can shape global tax governance to various directions regardless of their formal position in the world political hierarchies. This should be taken into account when trade treaties are being negotiated or revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), since its unveiling by China in 2013, has attracted much attention in the international community. As the B&R involves extensive government to government, enterprise to government and enterprise to enterprise relations and transactions, disputes are unavoidable. This article examines the existing mechanisms for resolving such disputes by pointing out their shortcomings and rooms for improvement. It then appraises an alternative dispute resolution mechanism proposed in a Blue Book by the International Academy for the Belt and Road. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study has used the time series data of Australia, China, Denmark, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, and the United States from the World Bank to estimate the agricultural economic shock of Taiwan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). We have adopted the recently developed panel data approach for policy evaluation to construct the annual agricultural growth path of Taiwan, which is mainly based on the cross-sectional correlations between the domestic and international agricultural trade markets in the absence of Taiwan's entry into the WTO. Our results have not only revealed the importance ofex postcounterfactual analysis, but also provided empirical evidence that the agricultural economic shock is not as severe as predicted by manyex antestudies. Based on these results, we have concluded that the outcome may have arisen from the slow progress of achieving agricultural trade liberalization under the WTO and the Taiwanese Government's effective adoption of phase-in periods and relative adjustment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present article aims to inquire about business convergence in creative industries from the perspective of cultural diversity. It is based on the premise that the recognition of the creative and innovative component of the so-called 'creative industries' or the 'creative economy' confirms the need for noneconomic factors and particularly cultural concerns to be taken into account in regulatory efforts addressing those industries. It examines the way new technologies and business convergence may affect the 'trade and culture debate' vis-à-vis the World Trade Organization (WTO), and how the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) may respond in a relevant manner to challenges brought therefrom. Despite its weakly binding language, the CDCE contains principles, objectives and rules that set a comprehensive framework for policy 'related to the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions' at the national, regional and international levels. A fundamental piece in such an approach is the explicit integration of cultural concerns into the concept of sustainable development. This article argues that the material and economic perspective adopted in the CDCE, based on the production and consumption of cultural goods and services, remains relevant and pertinent in the creative economy, despite business convergence. By prioritizing policy and regulatory coordination, it maintains that the main elements enshrined in the CDCE should be employed to contribute to greater coherence in view of the objective of promoting cultural diversity, including vis-à-vis the WTO and other international organizations, and puts forward potential paths for such coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the climate action policy implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The shift of trade rule-making from the World Trade Organization to mega-regional trade negotiations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is not positive for effective climate action, which will have to be multilateral in scope, collective in nature, and policy-activist in design. The mega-regionals are plurilateral and exclusionary in scope, competitive in nature, and policy-restrictive in design. Their investment and competition regimes, given teeth by investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, will militate against the evolution of a coherent and transparent body of climate-policy-friendly case law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Development Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mega-FTAs involving many countries and encompassing bilateral and mini-lateral FTAs have begun to be negotiated, while the Doha Round of multinational trade negotiations under the WTO have been at a stalemate. Mega-FTAs, which are discriminatory, and the WTO, which is non-discriminatory, are not consistent, thereby leading to a view that they are competing. This article argues that mega-FTAs and the WTO can be complementary, as mega-FTAs could facilitate negotiations with a smaller number of negotiating members. It further stresses the importance of extending mega-FTAs to a global level by merging with other mega-FTAs and by accepting new members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]