Trade liberalization indexes and the evaluation of preferential trade agreements

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 877-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe A.A. De Lombaerde
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade

Preferential Trade Agreements as Stumbling Blocks for Multilateral Trade Liberalization: Evidence for the United States

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 896-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Limão
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Detailed Data ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Multilateral Trade ◽  
Multilateral Trade Liberalization ◽  
Tariff Reductions

Most countries are members of preferential trade agreements (PTAs). The effect of these agreements has attracted much interest and raised the question of whether PTAs promote or slow multilateral trade liberalization, i.e., whether they are a “building block” or “stumbling block” to multilateral liberalization. Despite this long-standing concern with PTAs and the lack of theoretical consensus, there is no systematic evidence on whether they are actually a stumbling block to multilateral liberalization. We use detailed data on U.S. multilateral tariffs to provide the first systematic evidence that the direct effect of PTAs was to generate a stumbling block to its MTL. We also provide evidence of reciprocity in multilateral tariff reductions.

Entrenchment of regionalism: WTO legality of MFN clauses in preferential trade agreements for goods and services

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONG BUM KIM
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Internal Trade

AbstractThe most favoured nation (MFN) clauses in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) under GATT Article XXIV or under GATS Article V entrench the preferential trade relations between the PTA parties because the trade liberalization in future PTAs with third parties will be constrained by the existing PTA MFN clauses. Trade liberalization based on PTA MFN clauses cannot be considered part of the internal trade liberalization required by GATT Article XXIV:8 or GATS Article V:1. The exclusionary effects caused by trade liberalization through PTA MFN clauses increase the burden on trade with third parties. As a result, PTA MFN clauses do not meet the necessity test under the Appellate Body's decision in Turkey–Textiles, as reasonable alternatives to the PTA MFN clauses are available. For these reasons, PTA MFN clauses fail the requirements for legal defences under GATT Article XXIV or GATS Article V for their violations of the general MFN clauses under GATT Article I and GATS Article II. For those products or services subject to existing PTA MFN clauses, any preferential liberalization based on PTA MFN clauses should be accorded non-discriminatorily to all WTO members in accordance with GATT Article I or GATS Article II.

Preferential Trade Agreements and Unilateral Liberalization: Evidence from CAFTA

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICIA TOVAR
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Sample Period ◽  
Most Favored Nation ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Block Effect ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThere is no consensus in the literature on whether preferential trade agreements help or hinder trade liberalization toward non-members. We examine the link between preferential trade liberalization and tariffs imposed against non-member countries for the case of CAFTA-DR. Using product data at the 6-digit HS level, we find that products with larger reductions in preferential tariffs experienced larger increases (or smaller decreases) in most-favored nation tariffs applied against non-members. However, we also uncover some interesting dynamics regarding the relationship between preferential liberalization and tariffs imposed against non-members. When we split the sample period into two sub-periods, we find an initial negative relationship between changes in preferential and most-favored nation tariffs during the first half of the sample period, followed by a positive relationship during the second half, although the evidence on the latter is not as strong. The results thus provide the first evidence of an initial stumbling block effect of preferential trade liberalization on unilateral liberalization, as well as (weaker) evidence of a subsequent building block effect.

scholarly journals Is the WTO Passé?

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 1125-1231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Bagwell ◽  
Chad P. Bown ◽  
Robert W. Staiger
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
International Trade Agreements ◽  
Economics Literature ◽  
Hand Off

The WTO has delivered policy outcomes that are very different from those likely to emerge out of the recent wave of preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Should economists see this as an efficient institutional hand-off, where the WTO has carried trade liberalization as far as it can manage, and is now passing the baton to PTAs to finish the job? We survey a growing economics literature on international trade agreements and argue on this basis that the WTO is not passé. Rather, and subject to some caveats, our survey of research to date suggests that the WTO warrants strong support while a more cautious view of PTAs seems appropriate. (JEL F13, F14, K33, N70)

Preferential Trade Agreements: Recent Theoretical and Empirical Developments

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Lake ◽  
Pravin Krishna
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Diversion ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Multilateral Trade Liberalization ◽  
Deep Integration

In recent decades, there has been a dramatic proliferation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) between countries that, while legal, contradict the non-discrimination principle of the world trade system. This raises various issues, both theoretical and empirical, regarding the evolution of trade policy within the world trade system and the welfare implications for PTA members and non-members. The survey starts with the Kemp-Wan-Ohyama and Panagariya-Krishna analyses in the literature that theoretically show PTAs can always be constructed so that they (weakly) increase the welfare of members and non-members. Considerable attention is then devoted to recent developments on the interaction between PTAs and multilateral trade liberalization, focusing on two key incentives: an “exclusion incentive” of PTA members and a “free riding incentive” of PTA non-members. While the baseline presumption one should have in mind is that these incentives lead PTAs to inhibit the ultimate degree of global trade liberalization, this presumption can be overturned when dynamic considerations are taken into account or when countries can negotiate the degree of multilateral liberalization rather than facing a binary choice over global free trade. Promising areas for pushing this theoretical literature forward include the growing use of quantitative trade models, incorporating rules of origin and global value chains, modeling the issues surrounding “mega-regional” agreements, and modelling the possibility of exit from PTAs. Empirical evidence in the literature is mixed regarding whether PTAs lead to trade diversion or trade creation, whether PTAs have significant adverse effects on non-member terms-of-trade, whether PTAs lead members to lower external tariffs on non-members, and the role of PTAs in facilitating deep integration among members.

Subsidies Regulation Beyond the WTO

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Borlini
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
Negative Function ◽  
Public Aid ◽  
The Eu

An increasingly important aspect of EU trade policy since the lifting of its self-imposed moratorium on preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has been the inclusion of WTO+ provisions on subsidies in bilateral agreements negotiated with a number of third countries. This article covers the main bilateral PTAs negotiated after the publication of the Commission’s Communication on ‘Global Europe’ in order to explore the implications of the different subsidy disciplines they set out. It also discusses the questions that arise when examining the legal discipline of public aid provided by such agreements, regarding not only the substantive appropriateness of standards and rules on compatibility, but also the procedural mechanisms designed to guarantee the implementation and the enforcement of such rules. It concludes that the most advanced among the EU PTAs are shaped as competition regulation and go beyond a mere negative function, ensuring that subsidies can contribute to fundamental public goals.

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