As rallying calls of “Trade for All” and economic inclusion reverberate throughout national trade agendas, international forums, and across trade negotiation tables, here’s a closer look at trade and gender issues, how trade agreements of the past have addressed them, and how a new generation of trade and gender chapters aim to change the narrative.
An estimated 152 million children in the world today are in child labor. Provisions on labor issues have proliferated in trade agreements since NAFTA was implemented. But child labor is a complex problem requiring complex and situational solutions. Only concerted action in local communities and throughout global supply chains will make widespread and demonstrable improvements to lives of the millions of children who are mainly not included in the scope of a trade agreement.
Every policy realm has its jargon. Trade policy is no exception. The difference between a country’s weighted average bound tariff and its weighted average applied tariff is called “water in the tariff schedule”. It’s a topic of discussion in WTO negotiations over what the starting point for tariff cuts should be.
The art of bracketology is crucial in both March Madness and trade negotiations. Consensus is the goal, as trade negotiation texts move from “plenary” sessions with all 164 players on the court to a single agreed text, often with the help of chairperson who serves at turns as coach, referee, and cheerleader for the negotiations.
The announcement that trade talks in Beijing between the United States and China had been extended by a day sparked an uptick in stocks and renewed optimism that a resolution to the trade war might be in the offing. A minimal face-saving agreement should be possible before the March deadline, but this would only delay the ultimate day of reckoning. Friction points between China’s state-directed economic system and the United States’ ostensibly free market, free trade system will reassert themselves sooner rather than later.
Domestic competition policies aim to promote equitable opportunities to compete in the marketplace. They are oriented toward fostering the most efficient use of resources and increasing the incentives to innovate, both of which result in lower prices, better quality, and more choice for consumers. But domestic competition policies have limitations when it comes to cross-border transactions.For over two decades in international forums, governments have discussed whether and how to develop common approaches to national competition policies.
Champagne is the drink of choice to celebrate many of life’s milestones and one country in particular benefits the most from this tradition: France. The European Union wants to ensure through trade agreements that only sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France can be labeled by law as Champagne.
Few Americans associate cheddar cheese with its ancestral home: Cheddar, in Somerset County, Britain. The name Cheddar, originally designating a unique geographic location, evolved into a generic description as the cheese was produced all over the world. And therein lies the heart of a modern trade dispute over “geographical indications,” or GIs for short.
The outcome of the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) single market and customs union has broad implications for the UK economy and its terms of trade with the rest of the world. “Brexit Day” on March 29 next year is drawing near. Here’s a timeline of key events and milestones between 2015 and 2018 and what we should be on the lookout for in the first quarter of 2019.
When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was first agreed by 23 original contracting parties in 1947, there were no guarantees that the rules would endure. Today, WTO membership stands at 164 countries — representing collectively, more than 98 percent of global trade. But for an institution to endure, it must remain relevant.