scholarly journals Odious Debts and International Fair Trade

Daímon ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Cristian Dimitriu
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Fair Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Terms Of Trade ◽  
Personal Benefit ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
International Fair

I argue that one of the most important reasons why international trade has been unfair is that weaker parties in trading negotiations have been illegitimately forced to accept terms of trade that they would not otherwise accept under normal circumstances, and these terms of trade have been harmful for them. Odious debts are at the center of this kind of injustice. Odious debts are debts that are not binding for the citizens of a country, as they were incurred by illegitimate rulers in the name of all the citizens, but used for private purposes, such as personal benefit, or to oppress the population. Despite the fact that these debts are not binding—that is, that they should not be repaid—creditor countries have coerced debtor countries to repay them and, more importantly for the purposes of this article, they have taken advantage of the fact that countries are burdened with these debts by tailoring trade agreements in their favor. They have done so by telling debtor countries that, unless they trade under terms that creditor countries want; non-binding (i.e. odious) debts will be enforced. The resulting state of affairs is not simply a convenient one for creditor countries and an inconvenient one for debtor countries. It is also an immoral one.

scholarly journals How Important Can the Non-Violation Clause Be for the GATT/WTO?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Staiger ◽  
Alan O. Sykes
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Incomplete Contracts ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Terms Of Trade ◽  
Equilibrium Path ◽  
Trade Theory ◽  
International Trade Agreements ◽  
Integration Approach

The “non-violation” clause of GATT is Exhibit A for the proposition that international trade agreements are incomplete contracts. According to the terms-of-trade theory of trade agreements, it underpins the success of the GATT/WTO's “shallow integration” approach. Yet the observed role of the non-violation complaint is minimal. We develop a model of non-violation claims in trade agreements, demonstrate that it predicts a minimal on-equilibrium-path role for non-violation claims under reasonable parameter restrictions, and show that the non-violation clause may nevertheless play an important off-equilibrium-path role in the GATT/WTO. (JEL D74, D86, F12, F13, K33)

Bilateral Treaties and The Most-Favored-Nation Clause: The Myth of Trade Liberalization in the Nineteenth Century

2008 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Accominotti ◽  
Marc Flandreau
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Most Favored Nation ◽  
The World ◽  
Most Favored Nation Clause ◽  
Bilateral Treaties

Textbook accounts of the Anglo-French trade agreement of 1860 argue that it heralded the beginning of a liberal trading order. This alleged success holds much interest from a modern policy point of view, for it rested on bilateral negotiations and most-favored-nation clauses. With the help of new data on international trade (the RICardo database), the authors provide empirical evidence and find that the treaty and subsequent network of MFN trade agreements coincided with the end of a period of unilateral liberalization across the world. They also find that it did not contribute to expanding trade at all. This is contrary to a deeply rooted belief among economists, economic historians, and political scientists. The authors draw a number of policy lessons that run counter to the conventional wisdom and raise skepticism toward the ability of bilateralism and MFN arrangements to promote trade liberalization.

International Trade and Conflict

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward D. Mansfield
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
The Third ◽  
Effects Of War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Market Capitalism

This chapter surveys the empirical literature on the effects of foreign trade on political-military conflict. There have been three “waves” of work on this topic since 1980. It is argued that the most recent wave differs from earlier waves in various important respects. First, it has made significant headway in addressing the causal mechanisms underlying the relationship between trade and conflict. Second, this wave has addressed a wider variety of aspects of trade, including trade policy and trade agreements. Third, a variety of recent studies have shed new light on the effects of trade on the outbreak of war, as well as the effects of war on the trade ties of combatants. Finally, the third wave of research on trade and conflict has addressed whether the effects of trade stem from market capitalism more generally and whether a simultaneous relationship exists between trade and conflict.

Energy reform will hit investor confidence in Mexico

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Investor Confidence ◽  
International Trade Agreements ◽  
The Government ◽  
Energy Reform

Significance The government will appeal the rulings, which follow action by renewables firms. With constitutional battles over energy investments already unfolding, the future of Mexico’s energy framework has been thrown into turmoil. Impacts Increasing energy prices will probably push inflation above Banxico’s upper target limit of 4%. AMLO’s apparent disregard for international trade agreements will strain relations with the United States. AMLO’s pro-austerity fiscal stance could take a toll on his popularity.

Living without the WTO Appellate Body – Procedural Developments in International Trade Dispute Settlement

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-190
Author(s):  
Andrea Hamann
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Settlement System ◽  
Trade Dispute ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
Wto Appellate Body ◽  
Dispute Settlement System

Abstract The current column covers selected procedural and institutional developments in international trade dispute settlement in 2020. During the reporting period, World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement has been facing unprecedented challenges due to the collapse of the Appellate Body. While this calls for a systemic reflection in the WTO forum regarding the future not only of appellate review but of the entire dispute settlement system, the current unavailability of the Appellate Body has triggered WTO Members into improvising temporary solutions. At the same time, some of them have equally seemed to turn to free trade agreements (FTAs) or otherwise to pursue solutions outside of the multilateral forum.

scholarly journals Trade Agreements, Competition, and the Environment: Gridlock at the Crossroads

1994 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Seale ◽  
Gary F. Fairchild
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Uruguay Round ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Southern Region ◽  
Agricultural Commodities ◽  
Trade And The Environment ◽  
The World

In the 1980s, few agricultural economists, particularly from the Southern Region, published works on international trade or the globalization of the world economy. The initiation of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986 stimulated such writings as the Southern Agriculture in a World Economy series by the Southern Region Extension International Trade Task Force (Rosson et al.). An even smaller number of agricultural economists were writing on policy linkages between trade and the environment. An early effort to remedy this situation was the Workshop on Linkages between Natural Resources and International Trade in Agricultural Commodities (Sutton).

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