False friends? Empirical evidence on trade policy substitution in regional trade agreements

World Economy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 2175-2199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalene Silberberger ◽  
Frederik Stender
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade

scholarly journals The EAEU Free Trade Agreements as a New Viable Format for the Russian Trade Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
V. N. Zuev ◽  
E. Ya. Ostrovskaya ◽  
V. Yu. Skryabina
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Intensity Index ◽  
Common Trade ◽  
Trade Partners ◽  
Revealed Comparative Advantage Index

The Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) as a legal format of trade between countries has been actively developed within the last decades. Russian involvement in RTAs until recently was modest. However, after the EAEU creation in 2015, trade policies of the member countries have changed. Setting up the RTAs has become an important priority of the EAEU’s common trade policy. In this study, the assessment is made of the significance for the Russian domestic policies of the already signed and planned FTAs. The focus of the methodology of the study lies in computations of three trade indices: export significance index (suggested by authors and based on the revealed comparative advantage index), trade intensity index and symmetric trade introversion index, which were calculated for the totality of trade partners of Russia for 2019 (193 countries) in order to identify the most promising countries to conclude new FTAs. Authors come to a conclusion that the already signed Russian RTAs and newly planned Russian common FTAs on behalf of the EAEU have a potential to generate trade. Another important result of the study is that it provides the list of the first-priority countries for the new-coming FTAs for Russia and the EAEU partners in terms of efficiency in generating trade, that are - Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Republic of Korea and Mongolia. The authors suggest to make similar calculations for other countries to support the revealed pattern.

scholarly journals TRADE POLICY RESPONSES TO THE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES OF THE GLOBAL MARKET

2020 ◽  
pp. 218-224
Author(s):  
LELA JAMAGIDZE
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
World Market ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trading System ◽  
The World ◽  
The Eu

The present paper discusses several new trends in the global trade such as digitalization of trade, regional trade agreements and the emergence of new global players. Based on theoretical research and the study of the available secondary statistical data it analyzes how trade policy can address these changes under the existing world trading system. Trade rules underlying the traditional trading system are still applicable under increasing digital trade and enhanced bilateral and regional trade integration. However, WTO Agreement has nothing to do with those barriers of trade that go beyond traditional trade measures and are very acute for the developing countries. They involve access to the Internet and other telecommunication infrastructure, weak formal institutions and legal protection, lack of awareness about the potential benefits and opportunities in digital trade and lack of IT literacy. In order to overcome these barriers developing countries should incorporate trade policy as a component of deep economic reforms. The pace of development of the multilateral trading rules is slower than required by increasingly flexible business models. Therefore, countries try to find solutions at the bilateral and plurilateral levels. For instance, the EU develops regulations under Digital Single Market as well as within its bilateral trade agreements with non-member states. Georgia is implementing digital economy regulations in accordance to its DCFTA with the EU. Access to information and communication technologies is essential to be engaged in digital trade. For developing countries investments in digital infrastructure is an important policy issue, while developed countries are more focused on balanced trade rules, which ensure the development of digital trade, on the one hand and security and data protection, on the other. Contemporary trade policy goes beyond regulation based on classical trade instruments. It encompasses regulation within regional trade and investment agreements, technical standards and other behind-the-border measures, regulation of services and intellectual property markets and support for sustainable development goals, etc. A large part of the contemporary regional trade agreements covers all these areas. Development of bilateral and regional cooperation by encouraging deep integration can be discussed as an effort to overcome inflexibilities of the multilateral system. Regional integration enables countries to develop selective approach towards their trade partners and maintain certain degree of autonomy by applying different trade rules towards different partners. Elimination of behind the border barriers and enhanced regulatory harmonization leads to reduced trade costs but it also leads to race to the bottom in regulatory facilitation, what might be detrimental to the national policy goals. The effects of deep economic integration cannot be assessed based on the traditional approach of trade creation and trade diversion, because integration as an institutional process affects not only trade flows but also economic and institutional development levels of the countries. Deep regional integration reduces institutional differences within regions and increases them across regions. Besides it, the increasing role of BRICs countries in international trade leads to greater diversity of actors in the world market. New global players ask for greater voice in the process of reforming trade rules. Therefore, global trade rules should reflect the diversity that comes from changes in the patterns as well as the main players of the world market

scholarly journals TRADE POLICY RESPONSES TO THE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES OF THE GLOBAL MARKET

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
LELA JAMAGIDZE
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
World Market ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trading System ◽  
The World ◽  
The Eu

The present paper discusses several new trends in the global trade such as digitalization of trade, regional trade agreements and the emergence of new global players. Based on theoretical research and the study of the available secondary statistical data it analyzes how trade policy can address these changes under the existing world trading system. Trade rules underlying the traditional trading system are still applicable under increasing digital trade and enhanced bilateral and regional trade integration. However, WTO Agreement has nothing to do with those barriers of trade that go beyond traditional trade measures and are very acute for the developing countries. They involve access to the Internet and other telecommunication infrastructure, weak formal institutions and legal protection, lack of awareness about the potential benefits and opportunities in digital trade and lack of IT literacy. In order to overcome these barriers developing countries should incorporate trade policy as a component of deep economic reforms. The pace of development of the multilateral trading rules is slower than required by increasingly flexible business models. Therefore, countries try to find solutions at the bilateral and plurilateral levels. For instance, the EU develops regulations under Digital Single Market as well as within its bilateral trade agreements with non-member states. Georgia is implementing digital economy regulations in accordance to its DCFTA with the EU. Access to information and communication technologies is essential to be engaged in digital trade. For developing countries investments in digital infrastructure is an important policy issue, while developed countries are more focused on balanced trade rules, which ensure the development of digital trade, on the one hand and security and data protection, on the other. Contemporary trade policy goes beyond regulation based on classical trade instruments. It encompasses regulation within regional trade and investment agreements, technical standards and other behind-the-border measures, regulation of services and intellectual property markets and support for sustainable development goals, etc. A large part of the contemporary regional trade agreements covers all these areas. The development of bilateral and regional cooperation by encouraging deep integration can be discussed as an effort to overcome inflexibilities of the multilateral system. Regional integration enables countries to develop selective approach towards their trade partners and maintain certain degree of autonomy by applying different trade rules towards different partners. Elimination of behind the border barriers and enhanced regulatory harmonization leads to reduced trade costs, but it also leads to race to the bottom in regulatory facilitation what might be detrimental to the national policy goals. The effects of deep economic integration cannot be assessed based on the traditional approach of trade creation and trade diversion, because integration as an institutional process affects not only trade flows but also economic and institutional development levels of the countries. Deep regional integration reduces institutional differences within regions and increases them across regions. Besides it, the increasing role of BRICs countries in international trade leads to greater diversity of actors in the world market. New global players ask for greater voice in the process of reforming trade rules. Therefore, global trade rules should reflect the diversity that comes from changes in the patterns as well as the main players of the world market.

Regional trade agreements and the new theory of trade

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neelesh Gounder ◽  
Biman Chand Prasad
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Imperfect Competition ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gains And Losses

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the two issues of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the new theory of international trade and draw conclusions for Pacific Island countries (PICs). The authors provide a deeper conceptual treatment of the consequences of RTAs and analyse the new theory of international trade to explore its implications for trade policy in PICs.Design/methodology/approachWith regard to RTAs, the argument is developed in the context of the conjecture that questions the benefits from adopting more open trade policies with neighbours while maintaining restrictive policies towards the rest of the world. The authors draw on international and regional analytical literature and on recent modelling work to review critically the possible gains and losses of RTAs for PICs. In the latter issue, the focus is on the roles of imperfect competition and scale economies and their relevance to PICs.FindingsFreeing up trade gradually and unilaterally and realizing the benefits of comparative advantage remains the best way to maximise welfare. PICs could be worse off under a complex system of overlapping RTAs and existence of RTAs by Australia and New Zealand outside the region has the possibility of marginalizing weak PICs economies.Practical implicationsPICs are currently at a critical juncture in terms of trade policy making with various trade agreements being thrown in the region and this paper has the capacity to provide some answers to policy makers on the approach to take.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights into regional trade agreements and the new theory of trade.

Mega-Regional Trade Agreements and Post-2015 Climate Protection: Bridging the Gap

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 264-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Frey
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Economic Trends

2015 is an important year for both climate and trade policy. While in the climate community eyes are set on the cop21 in Paris for a new climate policy framework which would succeed Kyoto, trade negotiators are preparing for the final phases of negotiations on so-called “mega-regional” trade agreements like the tpp, ttip, and ceta. This paper argues that the current momentum should be harnessed to make trade policy part of the “enabling environment” for emission reductions. This would reflect worldwide economic trends with respect to growing markets for low-carbon technologies like renewable energy and energy-efficiency. However, it would also mean a new approach in the relationship between trade and the environment, and a shift of focus from regulatory space to common regulation and targeted trade-liberalization of climate-friendly goods and services. This contribution explores ways in which trade liberalization and climate policy can be effectively linked in eu trade agreements under negotiation, focusing on, i.a., the liberalization of trade in low-carbon goods and services and a regulatory alignment of emissions standards.

Trade Policy Space and Production Diversification in Developed and Developing Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sèna Kimm Gnangnon
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

This paper examines the effect of trade policy space on production diversification, and particularly on industrialization. We define trade policy space as the extent of constraints imposed by non-trade obligations, and possibly bilateral and regional trade agreements on the current trade policy stance. Thus, the lower the extent of these constraints, the higher is the available trade policy space to promote production diversification and particularly on industrialization. The empirical analysis uses a sample of 159 countries, over the period 1995–2015, and shows that trade policy space is conducive to production diversification and industrialization, although the effect could vary across sub-samples.

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