Facilitation 2.0: Services and Trade in the Digital Age

by MARTA SOPRANA

October 1, 2018

Although services facilitation is recent topic of discussion at the World Trade Organization, it is not novel in the context of regional trade agreements (RTAs), where... READ MORE

Facilitation 2.0: E-Commerce and Trade in the Digital Age

by MARIA PTASHKINA

September 27, 2018

With a growing number of transactions available on the internet, the interconnection between regulatory issues creates unprecedented complexities for both transaction... READ MORE

International Investment Obligations and Industrial Policy: Evolution in Treaty Practice

by MARK FELDMAN

September 26, 2018

As industrial policies become more widespread and controversial, the relationship between international investment agreements (IIAs) and industrial policy measures has... READ MORE

Facilitation 2.0: Investment and Trade in the Digital Age

by RODRIGO POANCO LAZO

September 25, 2018

In recent years, investment facilitation has taken an important place in the investment policy debate. This paper provides an overview on how investment facilitation i... READ MORE

Designing Common but Differentiated Rules for Regional Trade Disputes

by AMY PORGES

May 8, 2018

In the twenty-first century, World Trade Organization (WTO) members have put great energy and creativity in liberalising trade through regional trade agreements (RTAs)... READ MORE

The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism: A Trade Court for the World

by HENRY GAO

May 1, 2018

This paper examines the reasons behind the underutilisation of dispute settlement mechanisms in regional trade agreements (RTAs). It suggests that countries could use... READ MORE

Reforming Dispute Settlement in Trade: The Contribution of Mega-Regionals

by STEPHAN W. SCHILL GERALDO VIDIGAL

April 26, 2018

Dispute settlement rules and procedures are an important component of so-called mega-regional trade agreements. Reacting to recurrent criticism of the legitimacy of di... READ MORE

Regional Trade Agreement Dispute Settlement Mechanisms: Modes, Challenges and Options for Effective Dispute Resolution

by ROBERT MCDOUGALL

April 19, 2018

The importance of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and their dispute settlement mechanisms (DSMs) will likely continue to grow considering the dynamics of the multilat... READ MORE

Multilateralising Telecoms: A Step-Change in Need of a Step?

by ROHAN KARIYAWASAM

February 2, 2018

In the rapidly developing digital economy, where user-generated content is on the rise, and end-users are no longer just consuming content, but also developing, upload... READ MORE

The Digital Transformation and the Transformation of International Trade

by DAN CIURIAK MARIA PTASHKINA

January 23, 2018

The digital transformation has facilitated old modes of trade and business models and enabled the creation of entirely new ones. Digital disruption is being felt acros... READ MORE

Brexit and Origin: A Case for the Wider Use of Cross-Cumulation

by ANNA JERZEWSKA

January 8, 2018

As the United Kingdom negotiates its exit from the European Union, rules of origin are becoming a key topic. Whatever form the future UK-EU trade relationship wil... READ MORE

Trade and Integration Monitor 2017: Beyond the Recovery, Competing for Market Share in the Digital Era

by PAOLO GIORDANO

November 15, 2017

The value of exports from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) started to recover in 2016, and increased a notable 13.2% year-on-year in the first half of 2017. The r... READ MORE

SME Competitiveness Outlook 2017

by INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE

October 13, 2017

This year’s report focuses on regional trade, the most common form of trade for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It finds that deep regional trade... READ MORE

Going It Alone in the Asia-Pacific: Regional Trade Agreements Without the United States

by PETER A. PETRI MICHAEL G. PLUMMER SHUJIRO URATA FAN ZHAI

October 5, 2017

The withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early 2017 led the remaining 11 countries in that trade and investment agreement to exp... READ MORE

Bridging Distance for Development: Regulatory Cooperation Applied to Consumer Rights, Parcel Delivery and Sales Tax

by HANNE MELIN

August 10, 2017

This paper examines the need to encourage more widespread and inclusive participation of micro, small, and medium enterprises in global markets as a component of the S... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Digital Trade-Related Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Existing Models and Lessons for the Multilateral Trade System

July 13, 2017

The aim of this paper is threefold: First, it attempts to provide an inventory of the various legal disciplines and obligations found within RTAs that impact digital tra... READ MORE

China’s WTO entry benefits US consumers

by ROBERT FEENSTRA JOHN ROMALIS MARY AMITI MI DAI

June 28, 2017

China has become the world’s largest exporter, with a rapid rise in its world trade share just after it joined the WTO in 2001. This column finds that China&rsqu...; READ MORE

The Art of the Trade Deal: Quantifying the benefits of a TPP without the United States

by CARLO DADE DAN CIURIAK ALI DADKHAH JINGLIANG XIAO

June 13, 2017

This report uses econometric modelling and analysis to examine how Canada and other TPP signatories would fare under a TPP11; what the U.S. stands to lose; and, how th... READ MORE

National Committees on Trade Facilitation: current practices and challenges

by WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)

June 8, 2017

The purpose of this publication is to disseminate information on national experiences, best practices and recommendations with respect to the establishment and functio... READ MORE

Agriculture in the NAFTA Renegotiation

by CULLEN S. HENDRIX

June 1, 2017

Despite agriculture’s modest contribution to GDP in all three partner countries, agricultural issues will be a thorny aspect of the NAFTA renegotiation—jus... READ MORE

Streamlining Rules of Origin in NAFTA

by CAROLINE FREUND

June 1, 2017

After promising last year to terminate US participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), President Donald Trump has opted for renegotiation in sever... READ MORE

Trade Balances and the NAFTA Renegotiation

by C. FRED BERGSTEN

June 1, 2017

The Trump administration’s strategy toward trade agreements in general, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in particular, is fundamentally mispl... READ MORE

Making Trade Work for All

by ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

May 25, 2017

Against the background of rising anti-globalisation sentiment, this report argues that, while there are good reasons for some people to be angry, trade is not the root... READ MORE

100 Plus Days of Trade Policy: A Review of Key Administration Actions

by CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS

May 16, 2017

The Trump administration has issued a wide array of often technical executive actions, “self-initiated” investigations, and other steps related to trade si... READ MORE

The effect of regional trade agreements on growth volatility

by KANGNI KPODAR PATRICK IMAM

May 8, 2017

The debate over regional trade agreements is ongoing. It has been argued that they can heighten exposure to shocks as they lead to more specialisation, and conversely... READ MORE

Business recommendations on rules of origin in preferential trade agreements

by INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (ICC)

May 4, 2017

As countries are increasingly concluding bilateral and regional Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), diverging rules of origin regulations and procedures are becoming... READ MORE

One size does not fit all: On the heterogeneous impact of free trade agreements

by SCOTT BAIER YOTO YOTOV THOMAS ZYLKIN

April 28, 2017

There is a large empirical literature examining the effects of free trade agreements. However, most studies to date have focused on a common average effect across all... READ MORE

Theory and evidence for the last two decades of tariff reductions

by LORENZO CALIENDO ROBERT FEENSTRA JOHN ROMALIS ALAN TAYLOR

April 26, 2017

Tariff barriers today are small on average, suggesting only limited welfare gains from their removal. This column argues, however, that the current generation of stand... READ MORE

World Economic Outlook, April 2017: Gaining Momentum?

by INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)

April 20, 2017

Global economic activity is picking up with a long-awaited cyclical recovery in investment, manufacturing, and trade, according to Chapter 1 of this World Economic Out... READ MORE

Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All: The Case for Trade and for Policies to Facilitate Adjustment

by THE WORLD BANK WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)

April 10, 2017

In this study the authors argue that the benefits from opening trade are broad and deep. Trade liberalization has generated higher living standards through greater pro... READ MORE

2017 Latin American and Caribbean Macroeconomic Report: Routes to Growth in a New Trade World

by INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (IDB)

April 4, 2017

The 2017 Macroreport considers recent developments in the global economy and how they may affect Latin America and the Caribbean. It reviews how countries are adapting... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Sustainability Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Can they be Multilateralised?

March 29, 2017

With the rise of deep-integration regional trade agreements (RTAs), the role of sustainable development has become an inevitable discussion. Recent agreements reflect a t... READ MORE

As Western economies look inward, what’s the future for Latin American trade?

by ARANCHA GONZÁLEZ LAYA

March 28, 2017

Latin America’s economic downturn seems finally to have bottomed out. Positive, if modest, growth is forecast for this year. But as the region recovers from the... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Bridging Distance for Development: Regulatory Cooperation Applied to Consumer Rights, Parcel Delivery and Sales Tax

March 28, 2017

This paper examines the need to encourage more widespread and inclusive participation of micro, small, and medium enterprises in global markets as a component of the Sust... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Regulator Considerations: Leveraging Opportunities through Regulatory Cooperation

March 28, 2017

This paper examines the opportunity that regulatory cooperation provides to rationalise the array of overlapping international regulatory systems going forward, and the r... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

The Role of Regulatory Cooperation in the Future of the WTO

March 28, 2017

The emergence of global value chains (GVCs) and global public goods presents an opportunity for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to play a larger role in international... READ MORE

Better Neighbors : Toward a Renewal of Economic Integration in Latin America

by DANIEL LEDERMAN SAMUEL PIENKNAGURA RAYMOND ROBERTSON CHAD P. BOWN

March 14, 2017

This book proposes a renewal of 'Open Regionalism' in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) aimed at achieving the region's goals of high growth with stabi... READ MORE

A closer look at trade costs in the Americas

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL

March 6, 2017

Across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), governments are asking how they can spur growth in a challenging and uncertain global context. The region can ill afford... READ MORE

Can Mexico Retaliate Against US Trade Actions?

by KENT BOYDSTON

February 15, 2017

The debate over imposing a 20 percent border adjustment tax against Mexico has raised a number of questions, but one of the most imponderable is whether and how Mexico... READ MORE

US Trade Policy Options in the Pacific Basin: Bigger Is Better

by JEFFREY J. SCHOTT

February 15, 2017

As promised throughout the campaign, one of the first acts carried out by President Donald Trump was to order the US Trade Representative to withdraw formally from the... READ MORE

The International Trade Commission’s Assessment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Main Findings and Implications

by DEAN BAKER

February 7, 2017

In May of 2016 the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) issued its assessment of the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This paper highlights... READ MORE

African Integration: Facing up to Emerging Challenges

by INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ICTSD)

December 20, 2016

This paper examines the key elements bearing upon regional integration in Africa. It argues that integration should be conceived as a a means to respond to the develop... READ MORE

Regional Integration and High Potential Value Chains in West Africa

by JUDITH FESSEHAIE

December 20, 2016

This paper aims to provide an understanding of West Africa’s potential for participation in GVCs. Upgrading strategies require identifying value chains in which... READ MORE

Trade-Related International Regulatory Co-operation: A Theoretical Framework

by MARTIN VON LAMPE KOEN DECONINCK VÉRONIQUE BASTIEN

December 20, 2016

This report provides a conceptual foundation for the analysis of international regulatory co-operation (IRC) and its potential benefits through reduced trade costs. Di... READ MORE

Asian Economic Integration Report 2016

by ASIA DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

December 15, 2016

The Asian Economic Integration Report 2016: What drives foreign direct investment in Asia and the Pacific? is ADB’s annual report on Asia’s regional econom... READ MORE

Environment in the Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Legal Analysis

by INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ICTSD)

December 13, 2016

The objective of this paper is to provide policymakers in the fields of trade and sustainable development with a brief overview of the main elements and potential impl... READ MORE

Out of the Border Labyrinth

by CHRISTIAN MARTINCUS VOLPE

December 13, 2016

Out of the Border Labyrinth: An Assessment of Trade Facilitation Initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean sheds entirely new light on the trade effects... READ MORE

Making US Trade and Investment Policies Work for Global Development

by ROBERT Z. LAWRENCE TERRA LAWSON-REMER

November 30, 2016

This Policy Brief reviews US trade and investment policy programs focused on global development, such as the Generalized System of Preferences and the African Growth a... READ MORE

Revised Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement Mechanism: New and Improved?

by ANNA JERZEWSKA

November 30, 2016

In this paper Dr. Jerzewska reviews the key criticism of ISDS in the context of new FTA negotiations taking place, the recent changes to the ISDS mechanism and the fut... READ MORE

The Global Enabling Trade Report 2016

by WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR TRADE FACILITATION

November 30, 2016

Co-published by the World Economic Forum and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, the Report features the Enabling Trade Index, which evaluates 136 economies ba... READ MORE

The truth about trade agreements – and why we need them

by CHAD BOWN

November 29, 2016

Trade agreements involving the US could be the first economic casualty of the 2016 election. The existing US trade agreements rose from the ashes of WWII and the Great... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Addressing Origin Operational Challenges

November 21, 2016

This paper reviews reciprocal and unilateral preferential rules of origin, including the possibility of introducing expanded cumulation flexibilities to show why they are... READ MORE

Better, faster, stronger: How trade liberalisation fosters global innovation

by FEDERICA COELLI ANDREAS MOXNES KAREN-HELENE ULLTVEIT-MOE

November 21, 2016

Free trade is under fire, with evidence documenting the distributional impacts and labour adjustment costs of trade liberalisation mounting. This column instead presen... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Building Inclusive Rules of Origin in the 21st Century

November 21, 2016

This is an overview report of the Rules of Origin Dialogue held November 21-22, 2016. The report report provides an analysis and evaluation of rules of origin in the cont... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

The Preferential Origin Regime and Global Value Chains

November 21, 2016

Access to preferential import tariffs under a free trade agreement (FTA) is governed by clearly defined rules of origin designed to prevent non-members from enjoying the... READ MORE

RTA EXCHANGE SPONSORED RESEARCH

Towards Convergence on Rules of Origin Between Trade at the Regional and Multilateral Level

November 21, 2016

The ongoing stalemate on the Harmonization Work Programme (HWP) with respect to non-preferential rules of origin (RoO) has left business trade negotiators and customs off... READ MORE

Comparing Safeguard Measures in Recent Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements

by WILLEMIEN VILJOEN

November 17, 2016

As negotiators pursue talks on a workable agricultural safeguard mechanism at the World Trade Organization, it is critical that they have access to up-to-date and reli... READ MORE

Trade and Integration Monitor 2016: Downshifting: Latin America and the Caribbean in the New Normal of Global Trade

by PAOLO GIORDANO ALEJANDRO RAMOS

November 17, 2016

The Trade and Integration Monitor 2016 analyzes the different aspects of a downshifting in world trade and its effects on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This i... READ MORE

TPP Could Go Forward without the United States

by JEFFREY J. SCHOTT

November 15, 2016

The election of Donald Trump has closed the door to consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the lame duck session of Congress this year. During the... READ MORE

The Emerging Political Economy of OBOR

by ALEXANDER COOLEY

October 24, 2016

This report explores the implications of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative on the politics and economics of Central Asia. The analysis calls into ques... READ MORE

What consequences would a post-Brexit China-UK trade deal have for the EU?

by JIANWEI XU ALICIA GARCIAS-HERRERO

October 7, 2016

A China-UK free trade agreement has been extensively discussed since the UK’s vote for Brexit. Many supporters of Brexit argue that the UK’s regained flexi... READ MORE

South Asia's Turn:Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse

by GLADYS LOPEZ?ACEVEDO DENIS MEDVEDEV VINCENT PALMADE

October 6, 2016

The report examines three critical and relatively understudied drivers of competitiveness: Economies of agglomeration: firms and workers accrue benefits from locating... READ MORE

World Trade Report 2016 Levelling the trading field for SMEs

by WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)

September 28, 2016

The 2016 World Trade Report examines the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international trade, how the international trade landscape is ch... READ MORE

Appraising the TPP: What Should We Care About?

by ROBERT Z. LAWRENCE

September 20, 2016

It appears likely that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will come up for a vote in the lame duck session to be held after the presidential elections. How should we... READ MORE

Trade Policies and Sustainable Development in the Context of Global Value Chains

by INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ICTSD)

September 20, 2016

Global value chains (GVCs) have become a major feature of the 21st century economy. This paper argues that the expansion and increased sophistication of GVCs has creat... READ MORE

China’s Belt and Road initiative: can Europe expect trade gains?

by ALICIA GARCIA-HERRERO JIANWEI XU

September 5, 2016

The Belt and Road aims to ease bottlenecks for cross-border trade in Asia, Europe and Africa. This paper measures empirically whether the reduction in transportation c... READ MORE

Europe after Brexit: A proposal for a continental partnership

by JEAN PISANI-FERRY NORBERT RÖTTGEN ANDRÉ SAPIR PAUL TUCKER GUNTRAM B. WOLFF

August 29, 2016

This paper leaves aside the issue of EU reform and focuses on the desirable EU-UK relationship after Brexit. The authors argue that none of the existing models of part... READ MORE

The economic impact of Trans-Pacific partnership: What have we learned from CGE simulation?

by JOHN GILBERT TAIJI FURUSAWA ROBERT SCOLLAY

August 4, 2016

One of the most widely used techniques for evaluating the economic impact of regional trading agreements is numerical simulation with computable general equilibrium mo... READ MORE

US Exit from WTO Would Unravel Global Trade

by CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS PEDRO NICOLACI DA COSTA

July 26, 2016

In his latest attack on US trade policy, Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has threatened to exit the 163-country World Trade Organization (WTO), which... READ MORE

EU-Turkish customs union: How to proceed

by GABRIEL FELBERMAYR RAHEL AICHELE ERDAL YALCIN

July 23, 2016

New EU trade agreements could adversely affect Turkey as a non-EU member. This column presents new findings of an economic analysis in which different trade policy sce... READ MORE

How Long Does It Take to Conclude a Trade Agreement With the US?

by CAROLINE FREUND

July 22, 2016

Will the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pass this year? If not, when? With Brexit on the horizon, how long would a US-UK free trade agreement (FTA) really take? With... READ MORE

The Changing Global Trade Architecture: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa’s Development

by FAIZEL ISMAIL

July 1, 2016

This piece explores questions around the changing global trading architecture over the past 15 years. It examines how these changes have impacted on Africa’s eco... READ MORE

Monitoring Regional Economic Integration in Asia

by VALDIMIR DELA CRUZ ALADDIN D. RILLO

June 9, 2016

Given the diversity of Asia and the capacity constraints of countries in the region to manage integration, building an integrated Asian market is not easy. Because reg... READ MORE

Facilitating ASEAN Trade in Goods

by LILI YAN ING OLIVIER CADOT

June 1, 2016

Trade facilitation should be viewed as a strategic issue rather than a technical one. While ASEAN has been successful in the phasing out of intra-regional tariffs, ASE... READ MORE

What Trade Deals Are Good For

by GENE GROSSMAN

May 24, 2016

In recent months, trade agreements have moved from the arcane pages of academic journals to the front pages of newspapers, from university lecture halls to the preside... READ MORE

African Regional Integration Index Report 2016

by UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

May 5, 2016

Regional integration is a development priority for Africa. All Africans, not just policy makers and decision makers, have a role to play in making integration a realit... READ MORE

Towards a New Trans-American Partnership

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL ERNESTO TALVI

April 1, 2016

The global trade regime is undergoing fundamental changes. While World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries continue to work towards an ever elusive agreement, re... READ MORE

What the TPP means for Latin America and the Caribbean

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL

March 9, 2016

On February 4, 2016, after five years of negotiations, the members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) signed the trade pact, considered to be the highest... READ MORE

Adjustment and Income Distribution Impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

by ROBERT Z. LAWRENCE TYLER MORAN

March 1, 2016

The authors estimate the adjustment costs of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on workers and compare these costs with the agreement's benefits. They also estima... READ MORE

Assessing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Volume 1: Market Access and Sectoral Issues

by GARY CLYDE HUFBAUER TYLER MORAN PETER A. PETRI MICHAEL G. PLUMMER CAROLINE FREUND SARAH OLIVER CULLEN S. HENDRIX BARBARA KOTSCHWAR KIMBERLY ANN ELLIOTT ANNA GELPERN THEODORE H. MORAN LINDSAY OLDENSKI

February 1, 2016

After five and a half years of negotiations, the Barack Obama administration concluded the most ambitious free trade deal of the postwar era on October 5, 2015. The Tr... READ MORE

RCI Chat Issue No. 14

by ASIA DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

February 1, 2016

This issue of the Asia Regional Integration Center's bimonthly newsletter provides the latest news on trade, investment, cross-border infrastructure, and regional... READ MORE

Studies of TPP: Which is Credible?

by ROBERT Z. LAWRENCE

January 29, 2016

To decide which of these studies is more credible, three questions should be asked: First, is the model that is used appropriate for exploring trade policy? Second, ha... READ MORE

The contribution of mutual recognition to international regulatory co-operation

by ANABELA CORREIA DE BRITO CÉLINE KAUFFMANN JACQUES PELKMANS

January 26, 2016

This study takes stock of the institutional setting, operational modalities, strengths and weaknesses of various forms of mutual recognition when used in different sec... READ MORE

Enhancing Coherence and Inclusiveness in the Global Trading System in an Era of Regionalism

by KATI SUOMINEN

January 22, 2016

This paper examines the implications of this new era of regionalism and offers recommendations on how the system of RTAs can best be leveraged to advance trade and dev... READ MORE

Regulatory Cooperation: Lessons from the WTO and the World Trade Regime

by PETROS C. MAVROIDIS

January 22, 2016

Trade friction today is largely due to regulatory diversity as contemporary markets are chiefly segmented through non-tariff barriers. The purpose of the paper is to e... READ MORE

The E15 Initiative: Strengthening the Global Trade and Investment System in the 21st Century

by RICARDO MELÉNDEZ-ORTIZ RICHARD SAMANS

January 22, 2016

World trade has experienced a significant slowdown since the 2008 financial crisis. Over this period, the global ratio of trade expansion to income growth has halved.... READ MORE

Economic Integration: to Expand or to Deepen?

by GERALD AJUMBO

January 14, 2016

This brief seeks to examine the various geographically proximate African FTAs in the context of analyzing the deeper and expand models of economic integration and ende... READ MORE

Enhancing Coherence and Inclusiveness in the Global Trading System in the Era of Regionalism

by KATI SUOMINEN

January 1, 2016

Over the past two decades, regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated alongside the WTO system, involving a wide variety of agreements. In the absence of signi... READ MORE

Innovation, Competitiveness and Regional Integration: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa VII

by UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

January 1, 2016

Assessing Regional Integration in Africa VII examines how the three elements of regional integration, innovation and competitiveness are interlinked. It explores the p... READ MORE

Potential Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

by THE WORLD BANK

January 1, 2016

On October 4, 2015, 12 Pacific Rim countries concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. If ratified, the agreement could raise member cou... READ MORE

The Economic Effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: New Estimates

by PETER A. PETRI MICHAEL G. PLUMMER

January 1, 2016

This Working Paper estimates the effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) using a comprehensive, quantitative trade model, updating results reported in... READ MORE

Addressing Barriers to Digital Trade

by GRANT D. ALDONAS USMAN AHMED

December 1, 2015

This paper addresses the question of whether it is possible to balance the need for a free flow of information across borders with legitimate government concerns relat... READ MORE

An Assessment of the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement

by JEFFREY J. SCHOTT CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS EUIJIN JUNG

December 1, 2015

Of all the free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by Korea with its major trading partners since the turn of the century, the Korea-China FTA may the largest in trade... READ MORE

Opening up New Trade Routes for Financial Services: Canada's Priorities

by DANIEL SCHWANEN DAN CIURIAK JEREMY KRONICK PROVIDE

December 1, 2015

This report discuss how Canada should focus on five priority trade deals to open markets and benefit its financial services sector, according to a new report by the C.... READ MORE

President’s Proposed Reorganization of Trade Agencies

by DANIEL F. RUNDE MEREDITH BROADBENT

December 1, 2015

On January 13, 2012, President Obama released a proposed reorganization of the federal bureaucracy, which would see the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Office of the... READ MORE

Rethinking International Intellectual Property Law

by INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ICTSD)

November 27, 2015

The establishment of the WTO Agreement on TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and the proliferation of plurilateral, bilateral and regional a... READ MORE

The Future of the Global Trade and Investment Architecture

by CAROLYN DEERE BIRKBECK KIMBERLEY BOTWRIGHT

November 19, 2015

The global trade and investment architecture (GTIA) plays a critical role in shaping the organisation and structure of international commerce – from production a... READ MORE

The Tide Turns? Trade, Protectionism, and Slowing Global Growth

by SIMON EVENETT

November 12, 2015

The G20’s principal task of reviving global economic growth has never been easy – it is harder now that world trade is contracting. World trade growth isn&... READ MORE

US Efforts to Ensure that Regulation Does Not Present Trade Barriers

by STEVE CHARNOVITZ

November 5, 2015

Making domestic regulation more coherent and expanding cooperation between regulators has the promise of lowering the unnecessary costs of regulation for companies and... READ MORE

Beyond TPP: Sharing an Economic Strategy in Asia

by MATTHEW P. GOODMAN SCOTT MILLER ERNEST BOWER

November 1, 2015

This paper discussed the need for the United States to have a comprehensive economic strategy toward the Asia-Pacific, a region that will do more to determine U.S. int... READ MORE

RCI Chat Issue No. 13

by ASIA DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

November 1, 2015

This is the 13th issue of the ARIC newsletter focused on cross-border infrastructure, trade, investment, money, finance and regional public goods. The November-Decembe... READ MORE

Safeguard Measures in Multilateral and Regional Trade Agreements

by ELENOR LISSEL

October 14, 2015

Safeguard measures are designed for application when sudden and unexpected import surges cause or threaten to cause harm to domestic industry; recognising that even fa... READ MORE

A Coasian model of international production chains

by THIBAULT FALLY RUSSEL HENRY HILLBERRY

October 6, 2015

This paper provides an analytical treatment of trade and welfare responses to trade cost change in a simple two-country model. To explore the model's implications... READ MORE

ASEAN Economic Integration Through Trade and Foreign Direct Investment: Long-Term Challenges

by ASIA DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

October 1, 2015

This paper explores the long-term challenges for trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The region has emerge... READ MORE

Deep Trade Agreements and Vertical FDI : The Devil Is in the Details

by ALBERTO OSNAGO NADIA ROCHA MICHELE RUTA

October 1, 2015

Recent data show that the institutional content of preferential trade agreements has evolved over time. Although pre-1990s preferential trade agreements mostly focused... READ MORE

Competition Policy within the Context of Free Trade Agreements

by FRANÇOIS-CHARLES LAPRÉVOTE SVEN FRISCH BURCU CAN

September 23, 2015

This think-piece reports the findings of a mapping exercise of the competition-related provisions of 216 free trade agreements (FTAs) included in the World Trade Organ... READ MORE

Should Korea Join the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

by JEFFREY J. SCHOTT CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS

September 1, 2015

Despite a lack of consensus among Korea, Korean official recognize that -- sooner or later -- Korea will need to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Jreffr... READ MORE

Korea and the TPP: The Inevitable Partnership

by JEFFREY J. SCHOTT

August 1, 2015

Korea's decision to delay joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks was a tactical mistake. It is now left with primarily two options to participate: (1) a... READ MORE

Does a Regional Trade Agreement Lessen or Exacerbate Growth Volatility?

by KANGNI KPODAR PATRICK A. IMAN

July 1, 2015

This paper assesses how RTAs impact growth volatility on a sample of 170 countries, between 1978-2012. The findings show that the benefits outweigh the costs as RTAs a... READ MORE

Pacific Alliance Moving Towards Its Consolidation

by CAROLYN ROBERT

July 1, 2015

This piece provides an update on the latest Presidential Summit of the Pacific Alliance and the commitments made by member Presidents to deepen integration and improve... READ MORE

The Impacts of Trade Facilitation Measures on International Trade Flows

by PAULO C.DE SÁ PORTO OTAVIANO CANUTO CRISTIANO MORINI

July 1, 2015

This paper analyzes the impacts of selected trade facilitation measures on international trade flows. A gravity model is used to estimate four equations: a pooled cros... READ MORE

Southeast Asia's Geopolitical Centrality and the US-Japan Alliance

by MURRAY HIEBERT PHUONG NGUYEN ERNEST BOWER GREGORY POLING

June 1, 2015

Building on a careful analysis of Southeast Asia’s recent history, politics, economics, and place within the Asia Pacific, this report looks forward two decades... READ MORE

The Curious Case of Brazil's Closedness to Trade

by OTAVIANO CANUTO CORNELIUM FLEISCHHAKER PHILIP SCHELLEKENS

April 1, 2015

Although Brazil has become one of the largest economies in the world, it remains among the most closed economies as measured by the share of exports and imports in gro... READ MORE

Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean: Striving for a Diverse and Dynamic Relationship

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL MAURICIO MESQUITA MOREIRA

March 1, 2015

For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Asia has gone from an afterthought to a centerpiece of economic relations over the last decade. Seemingly out of nowhere, fa... READ MORE

Opportunities in Strengthening Trade Assistance

by DANIEL F. RUNDE SCOTT MILLER

February 1, 2015

This report focuses on how projects to build trade capacity can be planned and coordinated to maximize the benefits of new trade agreements, both for the United States... READ MORE

What Economic Models Tel Us About the TPP

by PETER A. PETRI

February 1, 2015

Using econometric methods this article analyzes how the TPP will effect 18 production sectors in 24 countries over a 15 year time horizon.

READ MORE

Investor-State Dispute Settlement

by SCOTT MILLER GREGORY N. HICKS

January 1, 2015

This report is an empirical review of ISDS, based on the record of disputes under existing investment treaties.

READ MORE

Political Timetables for US Free Trade Agreements

by CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS

December 1, 2014

This piece looks at the time lag between FTA negotiations and implementation, focusing on United States Free Trade Agreements.

READ MORE

The ASEAN Economy in the Regional Context: Opportunities, Challenges, and Policy Options

by GIOVANNI CAPANNELLI

December 1, 2014

This paper suggests that ASEAN needs an ambitious plan for economic integration beyond the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), to achieve its economic development aspirati... READ MORE

Trans-Pacific Partnership versus Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

by SHINTARO HAMANAKA

December 1, 2014

This paper argues that the formation of regional integration frameworks can be best understood as a dominant state’s attempt to create a preferred regional frame... READ MORE

ASEAN Commercial Policy: A Rare Case of Outward-Looking Regional Integration

by JAYANT MENON HAL HILL

November 1, 2014

This paper analyses the work done by the ASEAN community and its role in facilitating economic development. Despite its success, ASEAN has not progressed very far in t... READ MORE

Global Value-Chains and Connectivity in Developing Asia - with application to the Central and West Asian Region

by RICHARD POMFRET PATRICIA SOURDIN

November 1, 2014

An increasingly important part of international trade consists of fragmentation of the production process, with differing tasks in the global value chain (GVC) being u... READ MORE

From Spaghetti Bowl to Jigsaw Puzzle? Addressing the Disarray in the World Trade System

by JAYANT MENON

October 1, 2014

The rise of mega-regionals such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) suggests that the world trade system... READ MORE

The Progress of Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific: Enabling International Supply Chain Integration

by SUNG HEUN HA SANG WON LIM

October 1, 2014

This working paper discusses on how to facilitate integration of international supply chain using paperless trade in the Asia-Pacific Region. The paper defines paperle... READ MORE

World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation: Assessing the Level of Ambition and Likely Impacts

by SHINTARO HAMANAKA

September 1, 2014

At the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held in Bali on 3–6 December 2013, the ministers agreed upon the WTO Agreement on Trade... READ MORE

Has Regional Integration Led To Greater Risk-Sharing In Asia?

by THIAM HEE NG DAMARIS LEE YARCIA

July 1, 2014

This paper analyzes whether the degree of risk-sharing in East Asia has improved along with the observed rise in integration in the region. Higher risk-sharing is expe... READ MORE

Tanzania's Seaports and Transport Corridors as Development Opportunity for East and Southern Africa

by AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK EUROPEAN UNION TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA

July 1, 2014

Favorable economic growth prospects for the East and Southern Africa region will result in increased trade flows. This puts significant pressure on Tanzania’s po... READ MORE

Mega-regionals and the mega-mess: A way out

by JAYANT MENON

June 1, 2014

This column discusses the difficulties involved in consolidating free trade agreements at the regional level, and argues that piecing together the blocs around the wor... READ MORE

Study of Non-Notified Trade Agreements to the World Trade Organization

by SHINTARO HAMANAKA

May 1, 2014

This paper attempts to reveal those RTAs upon which the WTO fails to shed the light of the transparency exercise. While many studies have pointed out that there are ma... READ MORE

TISA Talks Making Strong Progress, Officials Say

by INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ICTSD)

May 1, 2014

Participants of the plurilateral talks on liberalising services trade continue to make good progress, officials involved in the process confirmed yesterday, just a yea... READ MORE

TTIP – Is free trade coming to the north Atlantic?

by DENNIS NOVY

May 1, 2014

The negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are about a year old and making only slow progress. This column argues that TTIP is a long-run... READ MORE

TTIP, the multilateral trading system and Latin American countries

by ANABEL GONZÁLEZ

May 1, 2014

Mega-regional negotiations will underwrite global governance on 21st-century trade issues and facilitate the proliferation of global and regional value chains. This co... READ MORE

The problem with TTIP

by L ALAN WINTERS

May 1, 2014

Most economists cheer the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that the EU is currently negotiating with the US. This column argues it is a pity that TTIP a... READ MORE

Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the European Parliament

by FREDRIK ERIXON

May 1, 2014

This column discusses the challenges the TTIP is likely to face after the election of a new European Parliament. Key political leaders should engage in the TTIP discus... READ MORE

Assessing the trade impacts of the ASEAN +6 FTA

by SITHANONXAY SUVANNAPHAKDY HSIAO CHINK TANG ALISA DICAPRIO

April 1, 2014

This paper assesses the potential trade impacts of the expansion of the ASEAN to ASEAN+3 and ASEAN+6 on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. It finds that bilat... READ MORE

Korea Chair Monitor

by VICTOR CHA MARIE DUMOND ANDY LIM EUNCHONG JEON HANNAH SUH SANFORD HESLER WONSEOK LEE

April 1, 2014

ROK President Park, U.S. President Obama, and Japan Prime Minister Abe participated in their first trilateral summit at the U.S. embassy in The Hague, Netherlands on M... READ MORE

NAFTA at 20: Misleading Charges and Positive Acheivements

by GARY CLYDE HUFBAUER TYLER MORAN CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS

April 1, 2014

This Policy Brief analyzes the record of NAFTA in order to clear the air so that the benefits and challenges of trade can be examined objectively. In the last 20 years... READ MORE

The Investment Version of the Asian Noodle Bowl

by SHINTARO HAMANAKA JULIEN CHAISSE

April 1, 2014

This paper aims to provide a detailed reading of recent advances in Asian investment rulemaking and a finer appreciation of how rules in Asian IIAs have evolved in res... READ MORE

Why do Countries enter into Preferential Agreements on Trade in Services?

by PIERRE SAUVÉ ANIRUDH SHINGAL

April 1, 2014

This report examines the potential for negotiated regulatory convergence in Asian services markets. The results suggest that countries within Asia that are more remote... READ MORE

China’s regional and bilateral trade agreements

by JOHN WHALLEY CHUNDING LI

March 1, 2014

After joining the WTO in 2001, China has entered into a number of trade agreements. Those currently in consideration are substantially larger than the initial ones. Ch... READ MORE

Fixing Trade Facilitation: The Trillion-Dollar Development Windfall

by DANIEL F. RUNDE

March 1, 2014

Trade facilitation, or the improvement of trade regulatory mechanisms to reduce barriers and costs to global business, is a big opportunity for limited international d... READ MORE

Going Global: Promoting the Internationalization of SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean

by REENA B. GORDON KATI SOUMINEN

March 1, 2014

This report offers practical recommendations for policymakers, companies, and practitioners on how to reduce each one of these barriers. It also presents three areas t... READ MORE

How Much Will the Davos Initiative Help Reduce Trade Barriers in “Green Goods”?

by JAIME DE MELO

March 1, 2014

At its launch in 2001, the Doha Round of trade negotiations was dubbed the round for the “Developing Countries and for the protection of the environment.”... READ MORE

RTA Exchange: Organising the World’s Information on Regional Trade Agreements

by KATI SUOMINEN

March 1, 2014

This think piece argues that the traditional approaches to monitor, constrain, and regulate RTAs are antiquated, both because WTO Members are not invested in such appr... READ MORE

U.S. Investment Policy Doesn’t Need another Public Review

by SCOTT MILLER GREG HICKS

March 1, 2014

In a February 28 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, a set of interest groups invited him to join his EU counterparts and “embark upon a thorough... READ MORE

“No Big Deal” says Krugman

by GARY CLYDE HUFBAUER CATHLEEN CIMINO-ISAACS

March 1, 2014

In an op-ed for the New York Times, Paul Krugman calls the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “No big deal”. This column looks at Krugman’s main argumen... READ MORE

Canada: A leader in the Americas?

by CARLO DADE CARL MEACHAM

February 1, 2014

On February 19, U.S. president Barack Obama, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet in Toluca, Mexico for th... READ MORE

Five Questions Answered on Africa’s Rising Economic Growth

by AMADOU SY

February 1, 2014

There has been a lot of talk about Africa’s rising economic prosperity and whether it is sustainable and deeply rooted in reducing extreme poverty across the con... READ MORE

Achieving Trade Promotion Authority Will Require a Heavy Lift from the President

by MURRAY HIEBERT SCOTT MILLER

January 1, 2014

Most observers agree the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement will be tough to conclude because of the high-standard, comprehensive nature of the 12-country... READ MORE

Addressing Currency Manipulation Through Trade Agreements

by C. FRED BERGSTEN

January 1, 2014

The Policy Brief discusses the possibility of addressing currency manipulation and the subsequent effects on the US dollar and other currencies around the world. The p... READ MORE

Australia’s Chairing of G20 Provides Opportunity to Reenergize Economic Reform

by MURRAY HIEBERT MATTHEW P. GOODMAN

January 1, 2014

The Brisbane Group of 20 (G20) Leaders Summit in November will provide Australia an opportunity to inject new life into a grouping founded to broaden dialogue on inter... READ MORE

Deepen Economic Ties to Turkey

by KEMAL KIRI?CI

January 1, 2014

The authors writes the U.S. should continue pursuing a more ambitious agenda with Turkey, given Turkey’s importance for U.S. interests and the U.S. goal that Tur... READ MORE

South Caucasus–People’s Republic of China Bilateral Free Trade Agreements: Why It Matters

by HASMIK HOVHANESIAN HEGHINE MANASYAN

January 1, 2014

This paper assesses the PRC’s FTA strategy, the potential for regional integration in the South Caucasus, and the likely impacts of an FTA on the economies of Ar... READ MORE

Southeast Asia from Scott Circle

by MURRAY HIEBERT SCOTT MILLER

January 1, 2014

Most observers agree the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement will be tough to conclude because of the high-standard, comprehensive nature of the 12-country... READ MORE

Synchronized Factories: Latin America and the Caribbean in the Era of Global Value Chains

by JUAN S. BLYDE

January 1, 2014

The internationalization of production processes – the so-called global value chain (GVC) revolution – has opened a new pathway to industrial development.... READ MORE

Trade and Green Economy A Handbook

by UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM

January 1, 2014

This handbook aims to foster a better understanding of the inter-linkages between international trade, the environment and the green economy. It therefore focuses on n... READ MORE

Global Value Chains: The New Reality of International Trade

by SHERRY M. STEPHENSON

December 2, 2013

Global value chains have brought about important changes for the world trading system, not just in the structure and composition of trade but also in their implication... READ MORE

20 Years of NAFTA: What’s Next for North America?

by CARL MEACHAM

December 1, 2013

On January 1, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will celebrate its twentieth anniversary. Today, North America is more deeply interconnected than ever be... READ MORE

Global Economics Monthly: Economics and the Rebalance

by MATTHEW P. GOODMAN

December 1, 2013

Like administrations before it, the Obama administration has put economics at the center of its Asia-Pacific strategy. But it has arguably raised the stakes by making... READ MORE

Plurilaterals and the Multilateral Trading System

by PETER DRAPER MEMORY DUBE

December 1, 2013

The multilateral trading system was shaped by plurilateral agreements. Given the size of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) membership and the diversity of int... READ MORE

Regional Trade Agreements: Development Challenges and Policy Options

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL KATI SUOMINEN CHRISTIAN MARTINCUS VOLPE

December 1, 2013

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated around the globe in the past decades. There has been an intense debate about their implications for the world tradin... READ MORE

Terms of Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Development: A Case of Intra-Asian “Kicking Away the ladder"?

by KONSTANTIN M. WACKER PHILIPP GROßKURTH TABEA LAKEMANN

December 1, 2013

This paper addresses in more detail the question raised in Wacker (2011b): why does foreign direct investment (FDI) generally have a positive impact on developing coun... READ MORE

When the Immovable Object Meets the Unstoppable Force: Multilateralism, Regionalism and Deeper Integration

by ROBERT Z. LAWRENCE

December 1, 2013

The experience of trade negotiations of the past decade shows that the multilateral system is at an impasse. Not only has it been difficult to get agreement on traditi... READ MORE

Will the WTO have Functional Value in the Mega-regional World of FTAs?

December 1, 2013

If all mega-regional trade and economic integration projects under negotiations are successfully completed, it would see the most important international goods, servic... READ MORE

Will the WTO have Functional Value in the Mega-regional World of FTAs?

by ANDREW STOLER

December 1, 2013

If all mega-regional trade and economic integration projects under negotiations are successfully completed, it would see the most important international goods, servic... READ MORE

The 2013 WTO Bali Ministerial: Prospects and New Horizons

by JOSHUA MELTZER

November 1, 2013

Failure to address these issues will make further significant progress on the Doha Round difficult, notwithstanding a successful outcome in Bali. An important wild car... READ MORE

The New North American Trade Map

by JOSEPH PARILLA ALAN BERUBE

November 1, 2013

Next month marks the 20th anniversary of the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The world economy looked quite a bit different in 1993 th... READ MORE

China’s Charm Offensive Signals a New Strategic Era in Southeast Asia

by PHUONG NGUYEN

October 1, 2013

The coming decade will see different visions for the future of trade and geopolitics in Asia play out, with Southeast Asia at the center of it all. Beijing’s new... READ MORE

Developing the Service Sector as an Engine of Growth for Asia

by DONGHYUN PARK MARCUS NOLAND

October 1, 2013

This book analyzes the current state of the region's service sector, the salient barriers to service sector development, and the prospects for the sector to serve... READ MORE

Mapping Crisis-Era Protectionism in Latin America and the Caribbean

by SIMON EVENETT

October 1, 2013

The resort to discrimination in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region against foreign commercial interests is documented in this paper and compared to aggregat... READ MORE

Too Far to Export

by MAURICIO MESQUITA MOREIRA JUAN S. BLYDE CHRISTIAN MARTINCUS VOLPE DANIELKEN MOLINA

October 1, 2013

This study assesses the role of domestic transport costs ("factory-to-port") in shaping the level and diversification of countries' overall and subnation... READ MORE

South Sudan: A Study on Competitiveness and Cross Border Trade With Neighbouring Countries

by AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

September 10, 2013

The purpose of the study is to examine the current state of South Sudan’s trade with its regional trading partners; Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and to an exte... READ MORE

Intra-sAdc cross-border investments

by GABRIEL MOUGANI OSCAR PITTI RIVERA JIAN ZHANG CEDRIC A. MBENG MEZUI AERINA KIM

September 1, 2013

Cross-Border Investment (CBI) refers to all capital flows, both private and public, between countries i.e. investment across the geographical borders of countries. Int... READ MORE

ANZTEC and Taiwan’s Quest for Economic Integration

by NICOLE WHITE JIEMING CHU KAELYN LOWMASTER

August 1, 2013

The carefully titled Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu on Economic Cooperation (ANZTEC), signed on... READ MORE

Southeastern Promises?: An Appraisal of the Russia-ASEAN Economic Partnership

by EKATERINA LOBURTSOVA TORRES

August 1, 2013

In July 1996, Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established a comprehensive ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership. Despite these efforts, neith... READ MORE

The 2013 ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting & Its Implications for the United States

by ERNEST Z. BOWER NOELAN ARBIS

August 1, 2013

The 45th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting and related meetings will be held in Brunei from August 20 to 24. The AEM provides a platform for economic and trade mi... READ MORE

International Business Quarterly: Trade Promotion Authority and Global Value Chains

by SCOTT MILLER CLARE RICHARDSON-BARLOW PAUL NADEAU

July 1, 2013

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has been clear that President Obama will seek Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus an... READ MORE

The Challenges and Opportunities of International Trade: Past, Present, and Future

by SANDER M. LEVIN

July 1, 2013

The administration is engaged in negotiations that go far beyond our nation’s vast expanses, Atlantic and Pacific, as well as our northern and southern borders.... READ MORE

The Pacific Alliance: An Example of Lessons Learned

by CARLO DADE CARL MEACHAM

July 1, 2013

With many economies in the industrialized world struggling since the 2008-09 global recession, many countries in the European Union continue to post negative growth ra... READ MORE

Why is Columbia not in the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

by CARL MEACHAM

July 1, 2013

Last month, Vice President Joe Biden met with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in Bogotá as part of his whirlwind tour of the Americas. During and after t... READ MORE

Intra-Regional Trade in Southern Africa: Structure, Performance and Challenges

by KENNEDY K. MBEKEANI

June 1, 2013

Have regional trading agreements (RTAs) boosted intra-regional trade in southern Africa? How has the direction and composition of intra-regional trade in southern Afri... READ MORE

On the Use of FTAs: A Review of Research Methodologies

by SHINTARO HAMANAKA

May 1, 2013

There has been much confusion, rather than debate, on the use of free trade agreements (FTAs). Unfortunately, a large part of the confusion is caused by the absence of... READ MORE

Developing Economic Corridors in Africa: Rationale for the Participation of the African Development Bank

by GADZENI MULENGA

April 1, 2013

The purpose of this Brief is to provide the rationale for transforming Africa’s potential regional transport corridors into economic corridors and to discuss the... READ MORE

Global Economics Monthly: Five Myths about TPP

by MATTHEW P. GOODMAN

April 1, 2013

The decision to welcome Japan into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) promises to be transformative, not only for the world’s third-largest economy (see March 2... READ MORE

Services Regulation in the Caribbean: Summary Report

by KATHY-ANN BROWN

April 1, 2013

This report assesses the regulatory framework for trade and investment in five areas - horizontal measures, information and communications technologies, transport serv... READ MORE

India-Pakistan: Is Trade Key to Everything?

by STEPHEN ENGELKEN

March 1, 2013

Engelken explores the assertion that India and Pakistan must expand their bilateral trade significantly if South Asia is to remain peaceful over the coming 20 years.READ MORE

Latin America "Pivots" to Asia

by CARL MEACHAM

March 1, 2013

Although the TPP negotiations have received considerable attention, much of it has been focused on the participation of the United States and the interest of the Asian... READ MORE

What is Economic Corridor Development and What Can It Achieve in Asia’s Subregions?

by HANS-PETER BRUNNER

March 1, 2013

Economic corridors connect economic agents along a defined geography. They provide important connections between economic nodes or hubs that are usually centered in ur... READ MORE

Why Japan Should Join the TPP

by MATTHEW P. GOODMAN MICHAEL J. GREEN

March 1, 2013

Since the first merchant ship of the new American republic set sail from New York for Canton in 1784, trade has been at the heart of U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific.... READ MORE

Japan’s Trade Policy in 2013: Possibilities and Pitfalls

by MIREYA SOLÍS

February 1, 2013

2013 could very well be a big year for Japanese trade policy. Japan is contemplating four major trade negotiations that could finally help its trade policy gain tracti... READ MORE

Obama's Pivot to Europe: Forget China. An EU trade deal would be the real game-changer.

by WILLIAM A. GALSTON

February 1, 2013

The fact is, the U.S. and the EU have it in their power to enact a potentially game-changing policy that could boost economic growth on both side of the Atlantic, help... READ MORE

Global Economics Monthly: Not Beyond Hope: Japan and TPP

by MATTHEW P. GOODMAN

January 1, 2013

Abe himself seems to have learned from his previous, unhappy experience as prime minister in 2006-07. In his first public remarks after taking back the job in late Dec... READ MORE

The Importance of Trade and Capital Imbalances in the European Debt Crisis

by ANDREW HUGHES HALLETT JUAN CARLOS MARTINEZ OLIVIA

January 1, 2013

The current debate on the European crisis has highlighted the role of fiscal imbalances in explaining the turmoil that has dominated Europe in the past few years. This... READ MORE

Informal Cross Border Trade in Africa: Implications and Policy Recommendations

by GERALD AJUMBO JEAN-GUY K. AFRIKA

November 1, 2012

Despite being a source of income to about 43 percent of Africa’s population, informal cross border trade (ICBT) is generally regarded as illegal commercializatio... READ MORE

Why Don't All Exporters Benefit from Trade Agreements? Estimating Utilization Costs

by ALFIE ULLOA RODRIGO WAGNER

November 1, 2012

This paper models FTA-utilization costs and estimates the evolution utilization costs for the FTA between the US and Chile. The model identifies costs by exploiting th... READ MORE

How Can Trade Policy Help America Compete?

by ROBERT Z. LAWRENCE

October 1, 2012

This policy brief argues that the United States needs new initiatives that discipline foreign practices, increase access to foreign markets, revitalize the World Trade... READ MORE

Prospects for Services Trade Negotiations

by MINSOO LEE JULIA MUIR JEFFREY J. SCHOTT

October 1, 2012

Trade and investment in services are difficult to measure, and the regulatory barriers that inhibit the free flow of services are hard to quantify. As a result, very l... READ MORE

Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic

by STEPHANIE MEDINA CAS ANDREW SWISTON LUIS-DIEGO BARROT

September 1, 2012

This paper studies the potential for the export sector to play a more important role in promoting growth in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic (CAPDR)... READ MORE

Assessing Regional Integration in Africa: Towards an African Continental Free Trade

by AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA AFRICAN UNION

June 1, 2012

African Union Heads of State and Government have adopted and are pursuing regional integration as an overarching continental development strategy. The vision at the co... READ MORE

US Strategic Alignment: Squaring Trade and Grand Strategy in Asia

by ERNEST Z. BOWER

March 1, 2012

Washington must make sure that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)-led trade approach avoids weakening or dividing ASEAN. That is vital because the engagement strategy... READ MORE

Developing an Enduring Strategy for ASEAN

by ERNEST Z. BOWER MURRAY HIEBERT

January 1, 2012

The U.S.-ASEAN Strategy Commission was organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to provide useful and practical recommendations to Americ... READ MORE

A Decade in the WTO: Implications for China and Global Trade Governance

by CHRISTOPHE BELLMANN RICARDO MELÉNDEZ-ORTIZ SHUAIHUA CHENG

December 16, 2011

China's 10 years of membership in the WTO has taken place against a backdrop of dynamic change in the world economy. Indeed, China's participation in the WTO a... READ MORE

Regional Integration in the Americas: State of Play, Lessons, and Ways Forward

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL MATTHEW SHEARER KATI SUOMINEN

April 1, 2011

Examination of the extent of liberalization in regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the Americas in comparison with other regions of the world, to discuss the potential... READ MORE

Regional Rules in the Global Trading System

by WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)

January 1, 2009

A major obstacle to advancing the understanding of RTAs is the absence of detailed information about their contents. This limits empirical analysis of their economic e... READ MORE

Gatekeepers of Global Commerce: Rules of Origin and International Economic Integration

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL KATI SUOMINEN JEREMY HARRIS JOSÉ ERNESTO LÓPEZ-CÓRDOVA

January 1, 2008

Rules of origin are a crucial market access instrument in the rapidly proliferating network of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) around the world. In this volume, E... READ MORE

Unclogging the Arteries: The Impact of Transport Costs on Latin American and Caribbean Trade

by MAURICIO MESQUITA MOREIRA JUAN S. BLYDE CHRISTIAN MARTINCUS VOLPE

January 1, 2008

The book explores the impact of transport costs on trade in Latin America and the Caribbean, and argues that transport costs have assumed an unprecedented strategic im... READ MORE

Regional Public Goods: From Theory to Practice

by ANTONI ESTEVADEORDAL TAM ROBERT NGUYEN BRIAN FRANTZ

January 1, 2003

This book is based on a conference entitled "Regional Public Goods and Regional Development Assistance", held in Washington, D.C. on November 6-7, 2002. It e... READ MORE

Beyond Borders: The New Regionalism in Latin America

by INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (IDB)

October 1, 2002

Regional integration initiatives have long been part of the world economic landscape. In Latin America, integration flourished in the early post-war era but then lost... READ MORE

Assessing the Economic Impact of the ECOWAS CET and Economic Partnership Agreement on Ghana

by THE WORLD BANK

January 1, 0215

Ghana is currently facing two major trade policy adjustments - the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) common external tariff (CET) is a significant mil... READ MORE