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222. Labor Standards, Development, and CAFTA
- Author:
- Kimberly Ann Elliott
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The debate over linking trade and worker rights is often a dialogue of the deaf, with advocates on either side paying little attention to the scope for positive synergies between labor standards, development, and globalization. Instead, each side views the other as promoting positions that will, intentionally or not, impoverish poor people in poor countries. Opponents of global labor standards fear that these standards will undermine developing countries' comparative advantage in low-wage goods or be abused for protectionist purposes, thereby denying workers jobs. Standards advocates argue that failure to include labor standards in trade agreements increases inequality and leads to a race to the bottom for workers worldwide.
- Topic:
- Development, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Central America
223. This Far and No Further? Nudging Agricultral Reform Forward
- Author:
- Tim Josling and Dale Hathaway
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- As countries attempt to restart the stalled Doha Round and continue the negotiations on further agricultural trade reform and liberalization, it is useful to take stock of the progress made so far in the light of both the objectives of countries and the needs of the trading system. This policy brief reviews the main objectives of the agricultural talks in the World Trade Organization (WTO), examines the major proposals that emerged in the run-up to Cancún and at the ministerial itself, describes the emerging framework for further reform, and suggests ways in which the negotiations can build on this progress to achieve a worthwhile outcome.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- South America
224. North American Agriculture under NAFTA
- Author:
- Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Jeffrey J. Schott, and Yee Wong
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The NAFTA agreement on agricultural trade consists of three bilateral agreements—between the United States and Mexico, the United States and Cana da, and Canada and Mexico. The US-Canada agreement largely carried into NAFTA the tariff and nontariff barrier rules that had been adopted in the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA). Under CUSFTA, most agriculture tariffs between the United States and Canada were to be phased out by January 1998, and this schedule was adopted by NAFTA for US-Canada agricultural trade. However, Canada was allowed to maintain permanent tariff-rate-quota (TRQ) restrictions on imports of dairy, poultry, and eggs; and the United States was allowed to maintain TRQs on imports of sugar, dairy products, and peanuts from Canada (see table 1). Although a tariff snapback provision remains in effect until 2008, it has rarely been used by Canada. Agricultural trade between Mexico and Canada was limited by virtually the same restrictions. As might be expected, some agriculture trade associations favored NAFTA and others opposed. Box 1 summarizes the lineup of important trade associations.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, North America, and Mexico
225. NAFTA Dispute Settlement Systems
- Author:
- Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Jeffrey J. Schott, and Yee Wong
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Building on the 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), the NAFTA contains dispute settlement provisions in six separate areas. NAFTA Chapter 11 is designed to resolve investor-state disputes over property rights; Chapter 14 creates special provisions for handling disputes in the financial sector via the Chapter 20 dispute settlement process (DSP); Chapter 19 establishes a review mechanism to determine whether final antidumping and countervailing duty decisions made in domestic tribunals are consistent with national laws; and Chapter 20 provides government-to-government consultation, at the ministerial level, to resolve high-level disputes. In addition, the NAFTA partners created interstate dispute mechanisms regarding domestic environmental and labor laws under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), respectively. This chapter examines the first four dispute settlement systems; the NAAEC and NAALC systems are evaluated in the environment and labor chapters of this book.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States and Canada
226. Toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific
- Author:
- C. Fred Bergsten
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has proposed that the APEC Leaders at Santiago on November 20-21 “agree to further examine the feasibility and potential scope and features of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP).” President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, the host of the APEC summit, has endorsed the concept. I believe that APEC should actively pursue the FTAAP idea. It offers the best prospects of any available strategy for catalyzing a successful outcome of the Doha Round and thus revitalizing the World Trade Organization (WTO). By forging a new transpacific initiative, it can counter the very real risk of disintegration of the Asia-Pacific region that is evident in the progress of Asia-only cooperation on one side of the ocean and a Free Trade Area of the Americas on the other side. It is the best possible device to reenergize APEC's progress toward its own signature trade liberalization goals and thus those of APEC as an institution. It offers a unique win-win-win opportunity that should be seized, beginning at Santiago and then at Pusan a year from now.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Politics, and World Trade Organization
- Political Geography:
- America and Asia
227. WTO, E-commerce, and Information Technologies: From the Uruguay Round through the Doha Development Agenda
- Author:
- Sacha Wunsch-Vincent
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Although much of the early Internet hype has faded, e-commerce continues to grow and spread around the world. In recent years, the potential and importance of e-commerce to the economies and industries of the developing world has become particularly evident. Yet as e-commerce develops into a global phenomenon, the need for rules and principles facilitating e-commerce has become increasingly evident, too.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Uruguay
228. Adjusting China's Exchange Rate Policies
- Author:
- Morris Goldstein
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- During the past year, there has been considerable debate about, and much international criticism of, China's exchange rate and its currency regime. Yes, criticism of China in the United States would likely be more muted if the ongoing recovery were not so “jobless,” if employment in the US manufacturing sector had not (mainly for other reasons) declined so much in the three-year run-up to this presidential elect ion year, if so much attention were not focused on the very large bilateral US trade deficit with China instead of China's economically—more meaningful overall balance-of-payments position, and if the United States had not done such a poor job of improving its saving-investment imbalance—particularly in the public sector.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Asia
229. Preempting Protectionism in Services: The GATS and Outsourcing
- Author:
- Aaditya Mattoo and Sacha Wunsch
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Cross-border trade in services is growing rapidly, with both developed and developing countries among the most dynamic exporters. Despite the substantial global benefits from such trade, the adjustment pressures created in importing countries could provoke a protectionist backlash - some signs of which are already visible in procurement and regulatory restrictions. The current negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda offer an opportunity to lock in current openness and preempt protectionism. This note describes how a bold initiative under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) can help secure openness.
- Topic:
- Emerging Markets, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
230. The US Current Account, New Economy Services, and Implications for Sustainability
- Author:
- Catherine L. Mann
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- This essay considers the implications for sustainability of the US current account of widespread uptake of new economy services around the world. The main contribution of this paper is to estimate new income elasticities for US exports and imports of services that have become increasingly internationally tradable on account of the networked information technologies characteristic of the new economy. These elasticity estimates are then incorporated into a simple model of the US current account. Assumptions on the increase in global growth coming from widespread uptake of new economy services around the world are taken from other sources. The new estimates of income elasticities and the assumptions on global growth yield a trajectory for the US current account deficit that is compared to a base case without increased integration of new economy services in international trade and around the world. The paper concludes that although new economy services reduce the asymmetry in estimated income elasticities and contribute to raising global growth, reasonable estimates of these two structural improvements are not sufficient to stabilize the US current account deficit, in part because the share of new economy services in trade is still small.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States
231. Labor Standards, Development, and CAFTA
- Author:
- Kimberly Ann Elliott
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The Miami Summit launching the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process recognized that free markets and free societies work best when they work together. The core labor standards — freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively, freedom from forced labor, the abolition of child labor, and freedom from discrimination — are part of the summit - FTAA process because they strengthen both markets and democracy. These core standards are broadly recognized as fundamental rights to which all workers are entitled, regardless of the level of development of the country or the sector where they work. And, in an environment that promotes democracy and market - oriented economies, as the FTAA is intended to do, there is no trade - off between these principles and development; indeed, they become mutually reinforcing.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, International Organization, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
232. Globalization of IT Services and White Collar Jobs: The Next Wave of Productivity Growth
- Author:
- Catherine L. Mann
- Publication Date:
- 12-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Businesses throughout the US economy continue to transform even after the technology boom has faded. The key sources of this continuing transformation are investment in the information technology (IT) package (hardware, software, and business-service applications) and reorientation of business activities and processes to use both information and technology effectively.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
233. Next Move in Steel: Revocation or Retaliation?
- Author:
- Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Ben Goodrich
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- In May 2003, the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel ruled that US steel safeguards imposed in March 2002 are illegal. The WTO Appellate Body is all but certain to confirm the panel's judgment, probably by December 2003. Then the Bush administration will face an important choice. It can keep the safeguards in place, pleasing steel producers and important constituencies in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. However, doing so would further anger steel users, who have probably lost more business and jobs as a direct consequence of the safeguards than steel producers have gained. Maintaining the safeguards would also send a signal to the world's trading nations that the United States is not prepared to endure the political cost of eliminating steel protection. Furthermore, the administration would run the risk that, in the middle of a presidential election season, foreign countries will exercise their rights under the WTO to retaliate.
- Topic:
- Government and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia
234. EU Accession and the Euro: Close Together or Far Apart?
- Author:
- Peter B. Kenen and Ellen E. Meade
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- In May 2004, ten countries are due to join the European Union. They are therefore obliged to join the European Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro as their national currency. Most of them, moreover, have been eager to do that. None of them sought an opt-out of the sort that Britain and Denmark obtained in 1991, when the Maastricht Treaty was drafted. Membership in EMU is not automatic, however, because the accession countries must first satisfy the preconditions contained in the Maastricht Treaty. Although those preconditions are rigorous, and some of the accession countries are still far from meeting them, most of those countries have indicated that they want to enter EMU at the earliest possible date.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Britain, Europe, and Denmark
235. More Pain, More Gain: Politics and Economics of Eliminating Tariffs
- Author:
- Gary Hufbauer and Ben Goodrich
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- A good proposal to eliminate tariffs must take into account both the pain and gain that developing countries are likely to experience. The authors take the measure of these costs and benefits and urge rich countries to maximize the benefits to developing countries while giving them ample time to accept, and adjust to, the changes that trade liberalization will require. But trade liberalization should not stop with tariff proposals. The United States and other industrial countries should generously reduce subsidies to farmers and eliminate nontariff barriers on agricultural imports. The United States should offer more concessions on services trade, particularly in its allowances for temporary foreign workers. Unless rich countries put more on the table, a WTO agreement to eliminate tariff barriers may be postponed for years.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- United States
236. Rules Against Earnings Stripping: Wrong Answer to Corporate Inversions
- Author:
- Gary Hufbauer and Ariel Assa
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The tax-driven expatriation of US corporations is a troubling phenomenon. In a “corporate inversion,” a new foreign corporation, typically located in a low-tax or no-tax country, replaces the existing US parent corporation of a multinational enterprise (MNE). The US corporation then becomes a subsidiary of the new foreign parent. Since the US tax treatment of an MNE operating in the United States is significantly less favorable when the top-tier parent corporation is a domestic rather than a foreign corporation, the inversion transaction averts a substantial amount of US tax. Inversions have attracted adverse attention from tax specialists, media, the US Treasury Department, and Congress. In the wake of September 11, it seemed downright unpatriotic for US firms to invert as a way of skimping on their tax payments.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States
237. The Strategic Importance of US-Korea Economic Relations
- Author:
- Marcus Noland
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Despite the passage of 50 years since an armistice ended military hostilities, the Korean peninsula remains divided, a Cold War vestige that seemingly has been unaffected by the evolution that has occurred elsewhere. If anything, US confrontation with North Korea—a charter member of its “axis of evil”—has intensified in recent years. Yet today, increasing numbers of South Koreans, accustomed to living for decades in the shadows of the North's forward-deployed artillery, do not regard the North as a serious threat. Growing prosperity and confidence in the South, in marked contrast to the North's isolation and penury, have transformed fear and loathing into pity and forbearance. Instead, it is the United States, an ocean away, that regards the North and its nuclear weapons program with alarm. As the United States has focused on the nuclear program, its ally, South Korea, has observed the North Koreans' nascent economic reforms and heard their talk of conventional forces reduction, and the gap in the two countries' respective assessments of the North Korean threat has widened dangerously, threatening to undermine their alliance.
- Topic:
- Security and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Israel, East Asia, Asia, South Korea, North Korea, and Korea
238. The Impact of Economic Sanctions on US Trade: Andrew Rose's Gravity Model
- Author:
- Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Barbara Oegg
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- With the end of the Cold War, the focus of US foreign policy changed—and so did that of economic sanctions. Partly because of increased cooperation within the UN framework, economic sanctions were imposed so routinely in the early 1990s that scholars called that period the sanctions decade. This proliferation sparked intense debate about the effectiveness of sanctions as a policy tool and moved US sanctions policy to the center of public discourse.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States
239. Economic Leverage and the North Korean Nuclear Crisis
- Author:
- Kimberly Ann Elliott
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Almost a decade ago, as the last nuclear crisis with North Korea was reaching a peak, I concluded the following about the potential utility of economic sanctions: The debate over US policy toward North Korea boils down to one deceptively simple question: what does Kim Il-sung want? No one can be sure of the answer and different interpretations have quite different policy implications. If the Great Leader views a nuclear weapons option as important to the survival of his regime, economic sanctions are unlikely to force him to give it up. But if he views the threat of developing nuclear weapons as a bargaining chip, some combination of carrots and sticks may induce him to trade it away.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Israel, East Asia, and North Korea
240. Steel Policy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- Author:
- Gary C. Hufbauer and Ben Goodrich
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- While the US steel industry has been in distress for decades, the “steel crisis” of 1999-2001 was particularly acute. More than 30 steel producing and steel processing firms fell into bankruptcy between 1997 and 2001, and most of the failures occurred after President Bush took office. During his presidential campaign, Bush promised steelworkers that he would not neglect them. As the crisis worsened, the steel industry and the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) pressed the Bush administration to make good on its campaign promise.
- Topic:
- Government, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States and America