Asian Free Trade Agreements and WTO Compatibility

Asian Free Trade Agreements and WTO Compatibility

Author: Shintaro Hamanaka

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9814460419

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This book investigates the appropriate relationship between regionalism and multilateralism, with a special reference to recent FTAs in Asia. It is undeniable that past trade multilateralism-regionalism debates centered on the trade-in-goods aspect.


Regional Cooperation and Free Trade Agreements in Asia

Regional Cooperation and Free Trade Agreements in Asia

Author: Jiaxiang Hu

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 9004279903

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The rise of Asia and the dynamics of Asian economic development have impacted global trade relationships and regional cooperation tremendously. While the WTO integrating national economies into global trade regulations has further liberalized trade relationships between developed and developing nations and amongst the emerging economies in particular in Asia, proliferation of free trade agreements in Asia has raised growing concerns regarding the fragmentation of the world economic order. World-renowned experts have here answered a variety of trade related issues ranging from China’s free trade agreements in its neighbourhood, the Tripartite Relationship between China, Japan and Korea, the Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation as well human rights and environmental implications of free trade agreements. Contributors are: Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Jianfu Chen, Won-Mog Choi, Ming Du, Henry Gao, Liyu Han, Jiaxiang Hu, Robert Irish, Tomoko Ishikawa, Md. Rizwanul Islam, Kwangkug Kim, Qingjiang Kong, Yong-Shik Lee, Wei Liang, Kuei-Jung Ni, Delei Peng, Yasuhei Taniguchi, Kim Van der Borght, Matthias Vanhullebusch, and Richard N. Watanabe, Shengxing Yu


Regional Economic Engagements and the Free Trade Agreements

Regional Economic Engagements and the Free Trade Agreements

Author: Ram Upendra Das

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 9812839151

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Given the recent emergence of China and India as economic powers, trade and economic engagement within the Asia Pacific region has become a significant area of interest to many policy-makers, academics and the general public. As international trade has been increasing among the countries in the region, many have decided to explore possibilities to introduce free trade through negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) due to its many advantages. This book comprehensively covers the existing economic cooperation arrangements in the region as well as those that are at various stages of study and negotiations.


Asian Free Trade Agreements And Wto Compatibility: Goods, Services, Trade Facilitation And Economic Cooperation

Asian Free Trade Agreements And Wto Compatibility: Goods, Services, Trade Facilitation And Economic Cooperation

Author: Shintaro Hamanaka

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2014-01-13

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9814460427

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It is an appropriate time to rethink the relationship between trade regionalism and multilateralism in the Asian context as we witness the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia. In the 1980s and 1990s, many scholars and policymakers believed that Asian integration was market-based, rather than legal-based, and that Asian integration would never be codified through agreements. Yet today, there are a large number of FTAs signed and under negotiation in Asia.This book investigates the appropriate relationship between regionalism and multilateralism, with a special reference to recent FTAs in Asia. It is undeniable that past trade multilateralism-regionalism debates centered on the trade-in-goods aspect. However, the majority of recent FTAs in Asia cover issues beyond trade-in-goods and tariff liberalization, such as trade facilitation, services, and economic cooperation. While the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV governs regional integration initiatives in trade in goods, there is no (or at most a thin) World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement that stipulates the relationship between regionalism and multilateralism in issue areas other than goods.Thus, this study carefully considers the meaning of “WTO-compatible FTAs” by distinguishing “WTO consistency” and “WTO friendliness”, going beyond GATT Article XXIV debates and proposes a general framework for examining the openness of regionalism in various issue areas by identifying tree-type questions to distinguish several types of exclusiveness. It then specifically asks the following questions: Can Asian FTAs that cover several issues be considered multilateralism friendly? How does the relationship between regionalism and multilateralism differ between trade-in-goods and non-goods issue areas? What are policies that might reduce the exclusiveness of regional initiatives? The study concludes by listing counterintuitive policy suggestions to make FTAs truly WTO compatible. The book also includes a comprehensive list of FTAs in Asia and several WTO Agreements relating to trade regionalism.


The Transition from Bilateral to Multilateral Free Trade Agreements As a Multiplier Process

The Transition from Bilateral to Multilateral Free Trade Agreements As a Multiplier Process

Author: Eugen Dimant

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2011-02

Total Pages: 37

ISBN-13: 3640820290

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Scientific Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - Foreign Trade Theory, Trade Policy, grade: 97.5%, Ottawa University, course: Multinational Business Policy, language: English, abstract: Stemming from the ongoing globalization, the process of global integration and international trade has accelerated ever since. Where back in the days the trade was more or less bounded to inter-regional trade with customers, partners and countries in close proximity, nowadays goods are shipped throughout the world, costs of transportation have decreased, time to market has increased and thus the needs and desires can be served almost instantly throughout the world particularly because of the continuous support of the WTO, where "a plethora of bilateral and regional trading and economic cooperation agreements have been mushrooming globally, and increasingly in the Asia-Pacific, generating a wave of "new regionalism" in Asia" (Sen; Srivastava 2009: 194). Concerned by the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, the ASEAN countries were under the impression of a slowdown in pace of trade liberalization and thus this put pressure on these countries to engage sustainably in mutual beneficial trade and economic integration. By that, "at a theoretical level regional economic integration is being taken to mean deepening of intra-regional trade, expansion of mutual foreign direct investment (FDI) and harmonization of commercial regulations, standards and practices." (Ekanayake; Veeramacheneni 2009: 2). This proceeding integration in ASEAN has mainly been motivated by the intention to create an attractive production base and to satisfy the rising competitive challenge on the part of China and India for both, domestic and foreign companies. (Hew; Sen 2004: 1-2). The impact especially of the ASEAN countries has raised over time, mainly in comparison to the OECD countries. "At the same time that developing Asia‟s share in ASEAN trade has been rising substantially (from about one-third t


Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific

Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific

Author: Vinod Aggarwal

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-06-17

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1136633383

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The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed a rapid rise in bilateral preferential trade agreements at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This trend could have potentially dramatic effects on the trading patterns of countries in the transpacific region and beyond. Some argue that these accords will spur multilateral negotiations, while others believe that they will irreparably damage the trading system. Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific examines the underlying political and economic factors driving these accords, based on a novel theoretical framework. Experts then provide overviews of political and economic trends in the region as well as detailed analysis of the trade strategies of Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Mexico. By systematically evaluating and assessing the driving forces underlying the turn to bilateral trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of this crucial phenomenon. Growing numbers of countries both in the region and elsewhere in the world are now considering further negotiation of bilateral trade accords. Understanding how these arrangements will fit or conflict with existing institutions in the Asia-Pacific and the WTO makes this book imperative reading for policy-makers and scholars.


Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements

Author: Aaditya Mattoo

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2020-09-23

Total Pages: 768

ISBN-13: 1464815542

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Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as international flows of investment and labor and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade or deep integration. These agreements matter for economic development. Their rules influence how countries (and hence, the people and firms that live and operate within them) transact, invest, work, and ultimately, develop. Trade and investment regimes determine the extent of economic integration, competition rules affect economic efficiency, intellectual property rights matter for innovation, and environmental and labor rules contribute to environmental and social outcomes. This Handbook provides the tools and data needed to analyze these new dimensions of integration and to assess the content and consequences of DTAs. The Handbook and the accompanying database are the result of collaboration between experts in different policy areas from academia and other international organizations, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO).


Trade Facilitation Beyond the Multilateral Trade Negotiations

Trade Facilitation Beyond the Multilateral Trade Negotiations

Author:

Publisher: UN

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13:

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This publication brings together the main research outputs produced by the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), and its members and partners, between April 2006 and January 2007. The book includes 10 chapters that introduce the concept of trade and facilitation beyond the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations, provide an analysis of regional trade facilitation initiatives, describe rules of origin in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), present customs valuation in developing countries, and give broader perspective of trade facilitation and recommendations on arriving at a meaningful multilateral agreement on trade facilitation.