Free Trade Agreements in East Asian Countries: What Has Been Done and What Needs to Be Done?

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Taik Hyun ◽  
Jin Young Hong
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Asian Countries

East Asian Way of Linking the Environment to Trade in Free Trade Agreements

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Gyo Koo ◽  
Seo Young Kim
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Conventional View ◽  
Ordered Logistic Regression ◽  
East Asian Economies

This study examines how East Asian countries have responded to the challenges that the trade–environment nexus presents. A total of 85 free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by 15 East Asian economies are analyzed by using ordered logistic regression and generalized ordered logistic regression techniques. The results show that East Asian countries incorporate strong and specific environmental provisions in their bilateral FTAs when they share concern about environmental issues. These findings reject the view that East Asian countries have adhered to collective ideas that favor weaker and ill-defined environmental commitments related to trade. It is notable that environmentally conscious East Asian countries have responded positively to trade–environment linkages with like-minded partners. Meanwhile, the results partially support the conventional view that an environmentally conscious big country can bully environmentally less conscious small countries into making strong and specific environmental concessions.

scholarly journals Free Trade Agreements versus Customs Unions: An Examination of East Asia

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Innwon Park ◽  
Soonchan Park
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium Model ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
Customs Unions ◽  
Ex Post

The spaghetti bowl phenomenon expected from the proliferating East Asian regional trade agreements (RTAs) is worrisome. In particular, the complicated web of hub-and-spoke type of overlapping free trade agreements (FTAs) can result in high costs for verifying rules of origin. As an alternative policy option to avoid the negative effect of trade deflection, customs unions (CUs) should be examined. Most of the theoretical analyses on the formation of CUs highlight stronger positive welfare effects compared to FTAs. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the second-best theory of customs unions. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap by applying two methodologies: an ex ante simulation approach and an ex-post econometric approach. We quantitatively estimate the trade effect of CUs and FTAs by adopting a Gravity regression analysis. In general, we find that a CU is a superior type of RTA to an FTA in terms of creating more intra-bloc trade. In addition to analyzing the trade effects of RTAs according to type, we quantitatively evaluate the welfare and output effects of CUs for East Asia (an ASEAN+3 CU and a China-Japan-Korea CU) compared to FTAs by applying a computable general equilibrium model analysis. The East Asian CUs adopt a system of common external tariffs (CET) based on simple-averaged, import-weighted, consumption-weighted, and minimum rates. Overall, we find that the ASEAN+3 CU with the minimum CET are the most desirable type of RTA for both East Asian member countries and the world economy as a whole.

scholarly journals Mobility Norms in Free Trade Agreements

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Jurje ◽  
Sandra Lavenex
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Lower Sensitivity ◽  
Labour Mobility ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Migrants Rights

Abstract Notwithstanding their traditional attachment to sovereignty, Southeast and East Asian countries have embraced a dynamic agenda of labour mobility liberalisation through trade agreements. This article assesses the free movement agenda within ASEAN from a multi-level perspective, comparing it to ASEAN countries’ corresponding commitments within the World Trade Organisation’s General Agreement on Trade in Services and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) concluded as a group or individually with non-ASEAN countries. Contrary to other trade aspects it turns out that intra-regional commitments within ASEAN do not significantly exceed multilateral ones, and score below the level of liberalisation achieved in ASEAN+ and bilateral FTAs. This article interprets this discrepancy as a consequence of strong economic and labour market differences among ASEAN members as well as the lower sensitivity of allegedly technocratic FTAs for considerations of national sovereignty. The article concludes with the limits of this trade policy approach for migration governance and migrants’ rights.

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