solved case study on international trade

International Trade

The teaching cases in this section invite discussion on such topics as economics, security, and policy-making with a particular focus on international relations and diplomacy.

Leadership and Negotiation: Ending the Western Hemisphere’s Longest Running Border Conflict

Publication Date: October 4, 2022

For centuries, Ecuador and Peru each claimed sovereignty over a historically significant, but sparsely inhabited tract of borderland in the Amazonian highlands. The heavily disputed area had led the two nations to war—or the brink of...

Solar Panels and Safeguards: Rising Tensions in the Global Trading System

Publication Date: June 30, 2020

In January 2018, President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on solar imports, at once plunging the US solar industry into uncertainty and deeply angering vital trade partners such as China, South Korea, and the European Union.The tariffs...

Setting the Standard in Free Trade: The Making of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Publication Date: August 20, 2015

In July 2013, more than 150 negotiators from the European Union and the United States converged in Washington, D.C. to begin crafting what could become the world's largest free trade agreement--the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership...

Nuclear Power & the Language of Diplomacy: Negotiating a Game-Changing Nuclear Trade Agreement with India (Sequel)

Publication Date: June 18, 2014

This sequel accompanies case number 2023.0. This decision-forcing case focuses on a diplomatic challenge faced by US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran between April and July...

Nuclear Power & the Language of Diplomacy: Negotiating a Game-Changing Nuclear Trade Agreement with India

This decision-forcing case focuses on a diplomatic challenge faced by US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran between April and July 2005: the writing of a 400-word joint statement...

Target of Opportunity: South Africa's Western Cape Seeks a Role in the African Oil Boom

Publication Date: March 05, 2014

This strategy case describes an initiative in the Western Cape province of South Africa to capitalize on an oil boom off the western coast of Africa by cultivating an industrial cluster of complementary businesses with the capacity to service,...

Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (B)

Publication Date: December 04, 2013

Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B), is the second of a two part case but may also be taught on its own. In May 2013, European Union Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht faced a...

Sea Change: Re-Writing the Rules for Port Security

Publication Date: February 15, 2012

Consisting of a 30-min. video mini-documentary and an 11-page backgrounder, this case explores the innovative approach used by the Coast Guard to manage the process of developing new regulations that would increase port security in the wake of...

Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 (Epilogue)

Publication Date: February 06, 2009

On one side, a loose network of protesters made arrangements for dramatizing their opposition to the WTO and international trade practices. At the same time, public safety officials from local, state, and federal agencies developed security...

Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999

TRIPS Part II: International Trade meets Public Health: TRIPS and Access to Medicines (Abridged)

Publication Date: March 07, 2008

This is an abridged version of case NR15-04-1736.0. The Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) was the most comprehensive and far-reaching international agreement on intellectual property...

The Eagle and the Dragon: The November 1999 US-China Bilateral Agreement and the Battle over PNTR (Abridged)

This is an abridged version of note NR14-04-1771.0. On December 11, 2001, China became a member of the World Trade Organization. Many say the 1999 US-China bilateral trade agreement and the vote in Congress to permanently establish normal trade...

• Harvard Business School →
• Faculty & Research →
• September 2002
• Background Note
• HBS Case Collection

Note on WTO Disputes: Five Major Cases

• Format: Print
• | Language: English
• | Pages: 13

About The Author

David A. Moss

More from the authors.

• Faculty Research

The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy

When democracy breaks: studies in democratic erosion and collapse, from ancient athens to the present day.

• The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy  By: Dean Grodzins and David Moss
• When Democracy Breaks: Studies in Democratic Erosion and Collapse, from Ancient Athens to the Present Day  By: Archon Fung, David Moss and Odd Arne Westad
• The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy  By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

• Browse All Articles
• Newsletter Sign-Up

• 01 Sep 2022
• What Do You Think?

Is It Time to Consider Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Imports?

Many of the tariffs levied by the Trump administration on Chinese goods remain in place. James Heskett weighs whether the US should prioritize renegotiating trade agreements with China, and what it would take to move on from the trade war. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 05 Jul 2022

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

Toyota and other companies have harnessed just-in-time inventory management to cut logistics costs and boost service. That is, until COVID-19 roiled global supply chains. Will we ever get back to the days of tighter inventory control? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 05 May 2020
• Research & Ideas

China Tariffs and Coronavirus a Double Hit to American Retailers

American retailers have yet to pass along higher prices caused by Chinese tariffs, but shrinking product demand caused by the coronavirus could change that, warns Alberto Cavallo. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 16 Apr 2020

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

4Questions Companies and consumers depend on the global value chain to create and distribute products around the world. What happens when the chain breaks? Insights from Laura Alfaro and Ester Faia. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 17 Mar 2020
• Cold Call Podcast

Is There a Winner in Huawei’s Digital Cold War with the US?

Bill Kirby discusses his case study of China-based Huawei’s growth and ultimate confrontation with the United States government, and China's response to the coronavirus. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 17 Feb 2020
• Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Technology and Trade on Migration: Evidence from the US

Labor mobility can re-equilibrate local labor markets after an economic shock. Both robot adoption and Chinese import competition between 1990 and 2015 caused large declines in manufacturing employment across US local labor markets (commuting zones, CZs). However, only robots were associated with a decline in CZ population, which resulted from reduced in-migration rather than by increased out-migration.

• 12 Nov 2019

Tariff Passthrough at the Border and at the Store: Evidence from US Trade Policy

Collecting and analyzing microdata on prices and the reaction of importers, retailers, and exporters to US trade policy since 2018, this study finds most of the tariffs’ incidence rests with the US firms.

• 26 Jun 2019

Why the US-China Tariff Standoff Hurts American Companies More

US exporters have been slashing the prices of goods they sell to China to offset higher trade costs, but Chinese exporters are passing those costs to American companies, research by Alberto F. Cavallo says. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 11 Dec 2018

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

Global free trade is not the natural order of things, so it needs to be carefully tended to and maintained. Sophus Reinert and Dante Roscini discuss trade over time and what history teaches. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 01 Aug 2018

Are Free Trade and Free Markets Quaint Ideas From the Past?

SUMMING UP: Free trade and free markets are great concepts but are often corrupted by politics, globalization, and the relative power of consumers and workers, our readers suggest. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 30 May 2018

Should Intellectual Property be Protected in International Trade?

SUMMING UP To do business in China, American firms often lose some of their intellectual property. James Heskett's readers think that price is too high. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 12 Apr 2018

Op-Ed: The Trouble with Tariffs

The world's economies are interconnected by globalization, which makes threats of tariff wars doubly dangerous, says Willy Shih. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 02 Mar 2018

Op-Ed: Trump’s Tariffs Could Harm Allies as Much as Opponents

President Trump's duties on steel and aluminum could produce immediate political gain but long-term economic pain for some American industries and global allies, says Dante Roscini. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 23 Feb 2018

Trade Creditors' Information Advantage

Trade credit represents about a quarter of the liabilities of US firms. There are several theories explaining this fact. This study reexamines whether suppliers hold private information about their trade partners, by analyzing their behavior in bankruptcy.

• 02 Mar 2017

Is China About to Overtake the US for World Trade Leadership?

SUMMING UP. It's better for the United States if China is an economic ally rather than a competitor for world trade leadership, James Heskett's readers conclude. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 24 Jun 2016

Why Brexit is a Big Deal

The consequences of Britain's vote to leave the European Union will be far-reaching. John Quelch shares his thoughts on the ramifications of Brexit. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 22 Feb 2016

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

Historian Laura Phillips Sawyer unearths the story of little-known drug store owner Edna Gleason who, in a man’s world, helped fire a progressive movement to protect small-business owners from price-slashing chains. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 27 Oct 2014

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

How did a world-class coffee region arise out of a land once decimated by smallpox and measles? Casey Lurtz discusses the rise of a coffee economy in a desolate region of Mexico. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 16 Dec 2009

The End of Chimerica

Economic historians Niall Ferguson and Moritz Schularick of Freie Universität Berlin consider the problem of global imbalances and try to set events in a longer-term perspective. First published in 2009. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

• Browse Topics
• Executive Committee
• Affiliated Faculty
• Harvard Negotiation Project
• Great Negotiator
• American Secretaries of State Project
• Awards, Grants, and Fellowships
• Negotiation Programs
• Mediation Programs
• One-Day Programs
• In-House Training and Custom Programs
• In-Person Programs
• Online Programs
• Advanced Materials Search
• Contact Information
• The Teaching Negotiation Resource Center Policies
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Negotiation Journal
• Harvard Negotiation Law Review
• Working Conference on AI, Technology, and Negotiation
• 40th Anniversary Symposium
• Free Reports and Program Guides

Free Videos

• Upcoming Events
• Past Events
• Event Series
• Our Mission
• Keyword Index

PON – Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - https://www.pon.harvard.edu

Team-Building Strategies: Building a Winning Team for Your Organization

Discover how to build a winning team and boost your business negotiation results in this free special report, Team Building Strategies for Your Organization, from Harvard Law School.

Top 10 International Business Negotiation Case Studies

International business negotiation case studies offer insights to business negotiators who face challenges in the realm of cross-cultural business negotiation..

By PON Staff — on March 26th, 2024 / International Negotiation

If you engage in international negotiation , you can improve your odds of success by learning from these 10 well-known international business negotiation case studies:

Claim your FREE copy: International Negotiations

Claim your copy of International Negotiations: Cross-Cultural Communication Skills for International Business Executives from
 the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

• Apple’s Apology in China

When Apple CEO Timothy D. Cook apologized to Apple customers in China for problems arising from Apple’s warranty policy, he promised to rectify the issue. In a negotiation research study, Professor William W. Maddux of INSEAD and his colleagues compared reactions to apologies in the United States and in Japan. They discovered that in “collectivist cultures” such as China and Japan, apologies can be particularly effective in repairing broken trust, regardless of whether the person apologizing is to blame. This may be especially true in a cross-cultural business negotiation such as this one.

• Bangladesh Factory-Safety Agreements

In this negotiation case study, an eight-story factory collapsed in Bangladesh, killing an estimated 1,129 people, most of whom were low-wage garment workers manufacturing goods for foreign retailers. Following the tragedy, companies that outsourced their garment production faced public pressure to improve conditions for foreign workers. Labor unions focused their efforts on persuading Swedish “cheap chic” giant H&M to take the lead on safety improvements. This negotiation case study highlights the pros and cons of all-inclusive, diffuse agreements versus targeted, specific agreements.

• The Microsoft-Nokia Deal

Microsoft made the surprising announcement that it was purchasing Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia for $7.2 billion, a merger aimed at building Microsoft’s mobile and smartphone offerings. The merger faced even more complexity after the ink dried on the contract—namely, the challenges of integrating employees from different cultures. International business negotiation case studies such as this one underscore the difficulties that companies face when attempting to negotiate two different identities.

• The Cyprus Crisis

With the economy of the tiny Mediterranean island nation Cyprus near collapse, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank (ECB), and the European Commission teamed up to offer a 10-billion-euro bailout package contingent on Cyprus provisioning a substantial amount of the money through a one-time tax on ordinary Cypriot bank depositors. The move proved extremely unpopular in Cyprus and protests resulted. The nation’s president was left scrambling for a backup plan. The lesson from international business negotiation case studies such as this? Sometimes the best deal you can get may be better than no deal at all.

• Dissent in the European Union

The European Union (EU) held a summit to address the coordination of economic activities and policies among EU member states. German resistance to such a global deal was strong, and pessimism about a unified EU banking system ran high as a result of the EU financial crisis. The conflict reflects the difficulty of forging  multiparty agreements  during times of stress and crisis.

• North and South Korea Talks Collapse

Negotiations between North Korea and South Korea were supposed to begin in Seoul aimed at lessening tensions between the divided nations. It would have been the highest government dialogue between the two nations in years. Just before negotiations were due to start, however, North Korea complained that it was insulted that the lead negotiator from the South wasn’t higher in status. The conflict escalated, and North Korea ultimately withdrew from the talks. The case highlights the importance of pride and power perceptions in international negotiations.

• Canceled Talks for the U.S. and Russia

Then-U.S. president Barack Obama canceled a scheduled summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a lack of progress on a variety of negotiations. The announcement came on the heels of Russia’s decision to grant temporary asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who made confidential data on American surveillance programs public. From international business negotiation case studies such as this, we can learn strategic reasons for  breaking off ties , if only temporarily, with a counterpart.

• The East China Sea Dispute

In recent years, several nations, including China and Japan, have laid claim to a chain of islands in the East China Sea. China’s creation of an “air defense” zone over the islands led to an international dispute with Japan. International negotiators seeking to resolve complex disputes may gain valuable advice from this negotiation case study, which involves issues of international law as well as perceptions of relative strength or weakness in negotiations.

• An International Deal with Syria

When then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, announced a deal to prevent the United States from entering the Syrian War, it was contingent on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s promise to dismantle his nation’s chemical weapons. Like other real-life negotiation case studies, this one highlights the value of expanding our focus in negotiation.

• A Nuclear Deal with Iran

When the United States and five other world powers announced an interim agreement to temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program, the six-month accord, which eventually led to a full-scale agreement in 2015, was designed to give international negotiators time to negotiate a more comprehensive pact that would remove the threat of Iran producing nuclear weapons. As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani insisted that Iran had a sovereign right to enrich uranium, the United States rejected Iran’s claim to having a “right to enrich” but agreed to allow Iran to continue to enrich at a low level, a concession that allowed a deal to emerge.

What international business negotiation case studies in the news have you learned from in recent years?

Related Posts

• Overcoming Cultural Barriers in Negotiations and the Importance of Communication in International Business Deals
• Political Negotiation: Negotiating with Bureaucrats
• Government Negotiations: The Brittney Griner Case
• The Pros and Cons of Back-Channel Negotiations
• Managing Cultural Differences in Negotiation

No Responses to “Top 10 International Business Negotiation Case Studies”

One response to “top 10 international business negotiation case studies”.

It would be interesting to see a 2017 update on each of these negotiations.

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Negotiation and Leadership

• Learn More about Negotiation and Leadership

NEGOTIATION MASTER CLASS

• Learn More about Harvard Negotiation Master Class

Negotiation Essentials Online

• Learn More about Negotiation Essentials Online

Beyond the Back Table: Working with People and Organizations to Get to Yes

• Learn More about Beyond the Back Table

Select Your Free Special Report

• Beyond the Back Table September 2024 and February 2025 Program Guide
• Negotiation and Leadership Fall 2024 Program Guide
• Negotiation Essentials Online (NEO) Spring 2024 Program Guide
• Negotiation Master Class May 2024 Program Guide
• Negotiation and Leadership Spring 2024 Program Guide
• Make the Most of Online Negotiations
• Managing Multiparty Negotiations
• Getting the Deal Done
• Salary Negotiation: How to Negotiate Salary: Learn the Best Techniques to Help You Manage the Most Difficult Salary Negotiations and What You Need to Know When Asking for a Raise
• Overcoming Cultural Barriers in Negotiation: Cross Cultural Communication Techniques and Negotiation Skills From International Business and Diplomacy

Teaching Negotiation Resource Center

• Teaching Materials and Publications

Stay Connected to PON

Preparing for negotiation.

Understanding how to arrange the meeting space is a key aspect of preparing for negotiation. In this video, Professor Guhan Subramanian discusses a real world example of how seating arrangements can influence a negotiator’s success. This discussion was held at the 3 day executive education workshop for senior executives at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Guhan Subramanian is the Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School.

Articles & Insights

• Negotiation Examples: How Crisis Negotiators Use Text Messaging
• For Sellers, The Anchoring Effects of a Hidden Price Can Offer Advantages
• BATNA Examples—and What You Can Learn from Them
• Taylor Swift: Negotiation Mastermind?
• Power and Negotiation: Advice on First Offers
• The Process of Business Negotiation
• Contingency Contracts in Business Negotiations
• Sales Negotiation Techniques
• M&A Negotiation Strategy: Missed Opportunities in Musk’s Twitter Deal
• How to Negotiate in Good Faith
• Value Conflict: What It Is and How to Resolve It
• Advanced Negotiation Strategies and Concepts: Hostage Negotiation Tips for Business Negotiators
• Negotiating the Good Friday Agreement
• Communication and Conflict Management: Responding to Tough Questions
• How to Maintain Your Power While Engaging in Conflict Resolution
• Famous Negotiations Cases – NBA and the Power of Deadlines at the Bargaining Table
• Negotiating Change During the Covid-19 Pandemic
• AI Negotiation in the News
• Crisis Communication Examples: What’s So Funny?
• Crisis Negotiation Skills: The Hostage Negotiator’s Drill
• Bargaining in Bad Faith: Dealing with “False Negotiators”
• Managing Difficult Employees, and Those Who Just Seem Difficult
• How to Deal with Difficult Customers
• Negotiating with Difficult Personalities and “Dark” Personality Traits
• Consensus-Building Techniques
• Dealmaking Secrets from Henry Kissinger
• 7 Tips for Closing the Deal in Negotiations
• Writing the Negotiated Agreement
• The Winner’s Curse: Avoid This Common Trap in Auctions
• Understanding Exclusive Negotiation Periods in Business Negotiations
• Negotiation Case Studies: Google’s Approach to Dispute Resolution
• What is Alternative Dispute Resolution?
• Alternative Dispute Resolution Examples: Restorative Justice
• Choose the Right Dispute Resolution Process
• Union Strikes and Dispute Resolution Strategies
• How an Authoritarian Leadership Style Blocks Effective Negotiation
• Paternalistic Leadership: Beyond Authoritarianism
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Leadership Styles: Uncovering Bias and Generating Mutual Gains
• The Contingency Theory of Leadership: A Focus on Fit
• Servant Leadership and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Training: Mediation Curriculum
• What Makes a Good Mediator?
• Why is Negotiation Important: Mediation in Transactional Negotiations
• The Mediation Process and Dispute Resolution
• Negotiations and Logrolling: Discover Opportunities to Generate Mutual Gains
• Negotiation in International Relations: Finding Common Ground
• Influence Tactics in Negotiation
• What Is Distributive Negotiation?
• Negotiation Team Strategy
• Negotiation Techniques To Get New Business Partnerships Off on the Right Foot
• Ethics and Negotiation: 5 Principles of Negotiation to Boost Your Bargaining Skills in Business Situations
• Negotiation Journal celebrates 40th anniversary, new publisher, and diamond open access in 2024
• 10 Negotiation Training Skills Every Organization Needs
• Trust in Negotiation: Does Gender Matter?
• Use a Negotiation Preparation Worksheet for Continuous Improvement
• How to Negotiate a Higher Salary after a Job Offer
• How to Negotiate Pay in an Interview
• How to Negotiate a Higher Salary
• Renegotiate Salary to Your Advantage
• How to Counter a Job Offer: Avoid Common Mistakes
• Camp Lemonnier: Negotiating a Lease Agreement for a Key Military Base in Africa
• New Great Negotiator Case and Video: Christiana Figueres, former UNFCCC Executive Secretary
• New Simulation: International Business Acquisition Negotiated Online
• Teach Your Students to Take Their Mediation Skills to the Next Level
• Check Out Videos from the PON 40th Anniversary Symposium
• Win-Lose Negotiation Examples
• How to Negotiate Mutually Beneficial Noncompete Agreements
• What is a Win-Win Negotiation?
• How to Win at Win-Win Negotiation
• Labor Negotiation Strategies

PON Publications

• Negotiation Data Repository (NDR)
• New Frontiers, New Roleplays: Next Generation Teaching and Training
• Negotiating Transboundary Water Agreements
• Learning from Practice to Teach for Practice—Reflections From a Novel Training Series for International Climate Negotiators
• Insights From PON’s Great Negotiators and the American Secretaries of State Program
• Gender and Privilege in Negotiation

Remember Me This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

Lost your password? Create a new password of your choice.

Copyright © 2024 Negotiation Daily. All rights reserved.

ECW3301 - Case studies in international trade

Current Problems of the World Economy and International Trade: Volume 42

Table of contents, the covid-19 pandemic experience for the world economy and international trade (introduction), part i impact of the covid-19 pandemic and crisis on the global economy and international trade, international trade in the era of neo-globalization: disintegration vs digital partnership.

The paper aims to study the main trends in the development of international trade in the era of neo-globalization and make forecasting scenarios that reflect the prospects and strategies for building international economic (foreign trade) relations. The author uses trend analysis, regression analysis, and the Monte Carlo method. The author proves that the digital economy determines the prospects for international trade in the era of neo-globalization. The author indicates several trends of international trade in the era of neo-globalization, such as the increase in the freedom of international trade (by 2.16%), the increasing level of globalization of the economy (by 4.11%), and the intensive increase in high-tech exports (by 74.94%). The most possible (28%) scenario for developing international trade is related to the digital partnership. In this scenario, a 25.11% increase in digital competitiveness provides an 8.29% increase in the globalization index and a 21.78% increase in high-tech exports. These indicators are achieved despite the growth of customs barriers by 58.86%. That is, a feature of the era of neo-globalization is the predominance of technological barriers over custom ones to the development of international trade.

China's Position in the Global Automotive Production and Exports, 2018–2020

China is one of the fastest-growing countries; it holds important positions in many product markets, including the global automotive market. The objectives of this study are as follows: to assess the position of China in the global automotive production, global automotive exports and imports; and also compare the position of China on these indicators with the main competing countries. In this regard, the method of comparative analysis has become the main research method. Based on the analysis and calculations performed, the authors came to some conclusions. China came out on top in the production and export of automotive products, overtaking key competitors, including the United States, Japan, Germany and India. This was achieved through an effective combination of trade, investment and industrial policy instruments. The decline in production and export of cars during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic was minimal in China compared to competitors, which is explained by an efficiently formed supply chain, as well as the presence of transport hubs (7 of the 10 largest sea container ports are located in China). The authors believe that future trends in the development of the Chinese automotive industry will be associated with the renewal of production to reduce environmental pollution and restructuring of supply chains to further localize the production of intermediate components for the automotive industry.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on China-Pakistan Economic Relations under Belt and Road Initiative

The chapter deals with China-Pakistan economic relations under China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), which is considered to be a flagship corridor under the Chinese ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI), also known as ‘One Belt One Road’ or ‘New Silk Road’. COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the composition of the world economy. Now BRI has become even more important for China's economic strategy to sustain its long-term growth. The authors investigate CPEC to be Beijing's most ambitious project so far and mark, that despite possible concerns and challenges, CPEC will succeed. The authors identify the advantages and benefits that both Pakistan and China will gain. Further promoting of ‘westward’ strategy, which facilitates the economic and social development of Western China, boost in the export of capital, technology, production capacity is considered to give a new impulse of Chinese economic development. Rise in industrial potential, stimulating socio-economic development, improvement of population well-being, as well as maintenance of internal stability are among Pakistan's benefits from CPEC.

The chapter identifies the short- and long-term effects of the COVID-19 on implementing CPEC, as well.

The Influence of Establishing Free Trade Zone on Sino-Russian Agricultural Cooperation-Taking Heilongjiang Free Trade Zone as an Example

Cooperation in agriculture and agricultural products trade is a new driving force for Sino-Russian cooperation in economy and trade in recent years. Driven by the interests and needs of both countries, a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) on the Chinese territory facing Russia, the Heilongjiang FTZ, has been established, and agricultural cooperation has attracted much attention within the FTZ framework. This chapter aims to analyze and explain the prospects of Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation under the framework of the Heilongjiang FTZ based on the current situations of cooperation. The author concludes that the Heihe and Suifenhe Areas in Heilongjiang FTZ are developed with a focus on Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation. This chapter is innovative because it combined the traditional research perspective on Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation with that under the FTZ framework. The author thinks that to facilitate the cooperation between the two countries in agriculture under the FTZ, the two governments must cooperate more extensively. Besides, they need to discuss the establishment of infrastructures like a joint agricultural product R&D centre and a digital development centre for agriculture. Meanwhile, the schemes of dispute settlement and risk-sharing should be addressed as well.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Electronic Industry in Russia

The chapter is devoted to considering the aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic influence on the global and Russian electronics industry. The work aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the electronic industry in the world and Russia from various angles. As a result of the study, the main features of the global electronic industry are highlighted, including leadership of Western European countries, Japan and the United States in the segment of high price electronics; the leadership of the new industrial countries in a lower price segment; active development of microelectronics as an electronics industry segment and its colossal role in the economy of modern countries; the trend towards acquisitions of small companies by large corporations and other industry. Key problems of the Russian electronics are identified, including a small fraction of the global electronics dependence of Russian industry on imported electronic components, a huge backlog of electronic industry of Russia in comparison of world leaders and the newly industrialized countries, technological backwardness of many enterprises of electronic industry, the low level of qualification as a whole industry. The novelty of the research is highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the electronics industry. The study highlights both negative consequences (decline in production of many electronic enterprises, disruption of supply chains, insufficient financing of the industry) and positive aspects (active growth of the segment of household appliances and electronics), as well as an impetus to the development of new directions of world electronics (radio-photonics, optoelectronic and quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, laser technology).

Comparative Analysis of the Economic Crisis at the Beginning of XX Century and XXI Century in Russia and Spain

The globalization of the world, in addition to obvious advantages, also brings potential problems. According to the authors, the problem is that the crisis phenomena occur simultaneously and in a very similar way in different countries. The emphasis on comparing the economic crises of the early twentieth and twenty-first centuries was caused by common features such as political instability, declining living standards, severe pandemics that swept the world and their consequences (twentieth-century coronavirus and Spanish flu of the twenty-first century). Comparative analysis allows assessing the causes of crises and their consequences. The importance of studying the 2020s crisis is that this crisis has become the most painful since the Global Great Depression in the 1930s.

The novelty is determined in the analysis of the situation of the economic crisis of the 2020s. The materials of the article are of the theoretical value for researchers studying crisis phenomena and anti-crisis measures, government bodies and business representatives.

The Effects on Globalization: A Comparative Analysis for German and Turkish Economy

Globalization has been an important factor in many parts of the world economically in the last century. To see this effect numerically, the globalization index is used and it contains many variables in itself. One of these variables consists of R&D concepts. At the same time, while intellectual property, which is an important element of the world economy, plays a major role in the rapidly globalizing world, the patent structure, which is the most concrete usage area of intellectual property, also shows its effect on globalization day by day.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the debate about whether R&D expenditures handled by the public are more efficient within the framework of comparative data analysis. The revised version of the patent and R&D analysis can be regarded as a composite index that measures economic, intellectual property and social dimensions as well as globalization for every country in the world. For this, Turkey and Germany in 2008–2018 the share of annual government expenditure, we use the total expenditure and GDP figures for R&D. Research and development expenditures made by the public sector are accepted to include the patent institutions and expenditures made by the public. At the same time, this index in Germany and made by the state exactly how much of their R&D spending gap between Turkey is to show that globalization is connected.

Study of the Impact of Non-Tariff Measures of Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the Import of Goods in Mutual Trade with the EAEU Member Countries

The article studies the problem of the impact of non-tariff barriers on mutual trade in goods between the EAEU member states. This problem is considered using the example of assessing the impact of non-tariff regulation measures of Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on imports of goods from other EAEU member states. The conducted research is based on domestic and foreign scientific works that use barrier components to build a gravitational model of foreign trade. To study the impact of non-tariff regulatory measures of Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on import commodity flow from other EAEU member states, two time periods are considered – the period of 2010–2014 and the period 2017–2019. In the context of the periods under consideration, a gravitational model of foreign trade is constructed. As a result of building a model within the framework of the study, it was revealed that during the period of the EAEU existence (2017–2019), non-tariff measures of foreign trade regulation had a more significant and negative impact on imports of the studied countries than before the formation of the EAEU (2010–2014). The latter indicates the relevance and necessity of further research of this problem.

Actual Problems of Illegal Mining in Peru: Prospects and Challenges

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the economic problems associated with illegal mining of minerals, primarily gold, in Peru, such as the development of shadow business, illegal activities, income hiding, labor exploitation, disastrous environmental consequences and the results of efforts to develop a coherent policy against illegal mining in Peru.

Design/Methodology/Approach

In the article, authors use an empirical approach and a system analysis, during which the object of research (companies engaged in illegal gold mining) is considered as a system that responds to external influences (requirements, challenges, etc.) and interacts with the internal environment (legal, institutional, etc.)

Since 2016, the consolidation and deepening of the state policy to eradicate the illegal mining of metal resources, including gold, is observed in Peru. The government is developing a coherent, dynamic program to tackle this complex problem.

Originality/Value

In the article, as a result of the analysis of the state policy to combat illegal mining, it is concluded that to achieve success in the implementation of a comprehensive program for the sustainable development of the country's mining complex, active participation of the state in this process is necessary. Government assistance with the mining complex development should range from adequate provision of affordable, timely and adequate basic services to the guarantees of legal rights protection to all parties involved in mining activities.

Belt and Road Initiative and China's Economic Challenges

The relevance of the research topic is due to the high importance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for increasing the presence of China in the markets of the countries of the New Silk Road. The topic becomes more relevant due to the ambiguous results of the BRI, although it was launched in 2013. On the one hand, the effect for China is growing. On the other hand, the effect for the participating countries has not yet reached the level initially declared.

The chapter aims to identify the main challenges and advantages of the BRI based on the involvement of countries and their markets in the trade and economic system formed by China.

The research novelty lies in studying the economic goals and objectives of the People's Republic of China (PRC) under the BRI and the possibilities of using the trade and economic system created by the PRC for developing the PRC and the BRI member countries.

The authors found that the initiative is designed to better integrate the economy of China at the regional and global level, promote the socio-economic progress of the less developed western territories of the country and stabilize foreign trade and domestic socio-economic processes in conditions of global instability. The authors justify that this initiative, uniting more than 80 countries in Asia, Africa and Oceania, will strengthen China's role in the world economy and trade, form a specific international trade and economic platform under the leadership of China and provide the country a leading position in at least three parts of the world.

The authors use traditional economic research methods, such as scientific abstraction, deduction, analysis and synthesis. Additionally, the authors use the method of visualization based on the application of the statistical method.

Socio-Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on OECD Countries

The study aims to study the socio-economic features of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic systems of the OECD countries, as well as to analyze the measures taken by states for their subsequent adaptation in the economies affected by the crisis. The authors identified the OECD countries with the highest number of cases of coronavirus, which demonstrated positive dynamics of socio-economic indicators after a significant recession due to the pandemic (USA, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Spain). The article analyzes the dynamics of key socio-economic indicators that characterize the development of the OECD countries under study in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 (unemployment rate, inflation rate, gross national savings, exports and imports of goods and services). The measures implemented by states to stabilize economic activity and maintain social well-being during the pandemic are studied. The authors concluded that the economic and social measures taken by the OECD countries under study are common and that the results of their implementation differ significantly. It is proved that Germany is the country that has most successfully implemented a package of anti-crisis measures based on an effective monetary policy and direct state support for the real sector, which allowed it to maintain the volume of export–import operations and gross savings at the pre-crisis level, prevent an inflationary jump in the country and not exacerbate the problems with increasing unemployment. Germany's experience in creating a basis for overcoming the global economic crisis can be adapted to the conditions of the countries most affected by the pandemic.

‘New Normal’: Example of India

The purpose of the chapter is to find out the current issues and tendencies of the global economy in the context of the term ‘new normal’. The author tries to determine some approaches to the meaning of the ‘new normal’ term under the condition of COVID-19. At the same time, it had been underlined and paid great attention to the countries with the demographic burden such as India.

Part II Prospects for Post-pandemic Recovery of the World Economy and Crisis Management of International Trade

Covid-19 and global economic outlook.

The article investigates economic globalization under COVID-19 and global economic policies to curb the epidemic. The authors analyze the economic policies of most countries and the mechanism to respond to the changing circumstances in light of the epidemic. COVID-19 as an epidemic that appeared in October 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan (and it's a new version that appeared in the United Kingdom and India in 2021) harmed the world economy, as borders between countries and even within countries were closed, which affected the economic activities of countries and among the most important indicators that affected the national product of countries, foreign trade, foreign direct investment and that unemployment rates have increased significantly both in developing and developed countries. It is also noted that the poverty rate has increased dramatically for developing countries.

The article found that there are trivial linked responses from one country to another, due to several factors, the most important of which are the capabilities of countries and the health infrastructure on the one hand, and the economic factor on the other.

Recommendations were developed in the research in overcoming the economic crisis through a situation that can help countries mitigate the negative economic effects of the global pandemic COVID-19.

EAEU Balancing Hydropower Capacity Issues in Terms of Global Pandemic Consequences

The main purpose of this chapter is to show the correlation of the current consolidated electricity capacity of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with the forecast indicators of electricity consumption to optimize the future energy system. It highlights the main directions of the international cooperation development in the field of hydropower and analyzes the total consumption of hydropower in the EAEU. The study is based on official data provided by international hydropower and renewable energy regulators as well as national professional regulators and statistical offices. Authors predicted total hydropower consumption of the EAEU countries for the coming years using machine learning algorithms and interpreted obtained results by an econometric toolkit. It is shown that the current hydropower capacity level will not cover future consumption, in particular, due to the increasingly growing demand for cheap electricity because of massive digitalization as one of the global pandemic impacts. As a result, the necessity was identified to gradually increasing the available hydropower capacity to balance the situation. In conclusion, it's been proposed potentially possible solutions to optimize the future energy system of the single energy market of the EAEU to achieve the required level of electricity generation from power plants operating on renewable energy sources and, in particular, water resources, taking into account the consequences of Covid-19 in the energy industry.

Forming the New Industrial Core of Russian Industry: Problems and Perspectives

The chapter aims to determine the need to form a new industrial core of the Russian industry, its content, problems, prospects and the objective prerequisites of its formation in modern conditions.

Methodology

The development of prerequisites for the formation of a new industrial core of the Russian industry relies on the possibilities of the system paradigm, the theory of socio-economic transformation, the theory of technological modes, the theory of reproduction, the theory of modernization, the method of dialectics, empirical method and the method of analysis and synthesis.

The authors determine that the formation of a qualitatively new industrial core of the Russian industry corresponding to the new technological mode will ensure the integration of the Russian economy in the accelerating technological and socio-economic transformations.

Originality

The authors substantiate the demand for the formation of a new industrial core of the Russian industry. The problems associated with the destruction of the former industrial base during the economic transformation are established. Additionally, the authors determine the prospects for the formation of a new industrial core of the Russian industry on a qualitatively new technological basis.

EAEU and BRICS: State and Prospects of Cooperation

The chapter examines the current state and prospects of cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the BRICS members. Firstly, the chapter describes comparative analysis between the economic strategies, which represents the two associations facing similar challenges; set themselves similar goals and objectives to achieve sustainable economic growth. Also, the authors provide an empirical analysis of trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and the BRICS countries, which shows different levels and dynamics of relations with each member of the BRICS. Furthermore, it is proposed to use new ‘soft’ formats, which, in the authors' opinion, will provide synergistic use of the fundamental platforms for dialogue created in the EAEU and BRICS to intensify cooperation and deepen practical interaction. Finally, the chapter concludes that the potential interaction between the two associations of developing countries would create positive prospects and new opportunities, subsequently accelerating their economic growth. Such consolidation of capabilities of these institutions would transfer such cooperation into a practical direction by implementing the goals defined in the strategic planning of the EAEU and BRICS countries.

Drivers of E-Learning Market: Case of China

This chapter examines the key features of online education development, its trends in the world market and, in particular, in the Chinese market, as a successful case of digitalization of education (the annual growth rate of the e-learning market in China on average is 20%). Based on the example of China, the authors identify several drivers of online education growth, including institutional (national education policy), technological (technological potential to introduce digital technologies into education) and financial (inflows of investment, including venture capital, in this industry).

The Global Industrial Robotics Market: Development Trends and Volume Forecast

The purpose of the chapter is to focus on the global industrial robotics market and trends of its development. In the framework of this chapter, the authors made the forecast of industrial robots' market future values in this chapter with the linear regression method and an econometric model. This analysis has provided a conclusive answer to the question about the prospects of the industrial robotics market and the leading countries. The completed forecast showed that the global robotics market will continue to grow, thanks to the wider adoption of industrial robots, which will be used in new industries, the development of contactless user interfaces, which, among other things, will be implemented in the automotive applications, the focus on predictive maintenance and remote monitoring of equipment, as well as the transition of a large number of enterprises to digital management and full automation of existing equipment to improve the quality and productivity of processes. The authors show that in 2020 the global robotics market volume decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic and major shift in production value chains, but in 2021 the indicator will grow again, but not so rapidly, at a more moderate pace. By 2025, the global industrial robotics market may exceed $61.4 billion, with a growth rate of 8.5%.

Monetary Policy of the EAEU Countries: Instruments and Results of Implementation

The global processes taking place in the economy have led to the transformation of various spheres of the economy, primarily financial, and, as a result, to changes in economic policy and its main elements-fiscal, monetary and investment policies. It is no coincidence that the recurrent crises of the last decades either originated in the financial sector or had a significant impact on changing its parameters. This situation in the context of ongoing economic and institutional changes has necessitated a flexible and regular review of the methods and instruments of monetary regulation used. Moreover, it is more difficult for the countries of integration groupings, including the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), to do this, given the need to coordinate the decisions and measures taken. The situation has become more complicated due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has had a significant impact on the economies of both developed and developing countries. The analysis of the correspondence of the money market parameters to the macro-financial indicators of economic security and the dynamics of the banking sector parameters, the significant economic downturn, the decrease in demand and the persistence of uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic make it necessary to adjust monetary policy.

Export Potential of Small and Medium Enterprises of Kazakhstan: Analysis of Regional Opportunities

The article discusses the current state and problems of increasing the export potential of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the context of the country's regions.

The article aims to identify promising sectors of the economy for small and medium-sized enterprises with export potential to ensure the post-crisis recovery of the national economy and its growth.

Improving the Formation of Financial Statements in Accordance with International Standards as the Most Important Instrument for International Economic Integration

The purpose of this article is to identify problems and opportunities for improving the formation of financial statements (FS) in accordance with International Standards, which is the most important instrument for international economic integration.

In carrying out the research, we used the FS of the modern organizations, prepared in accordance with International Standards (IASs and IFRSs), posted on the official websites of these organizations. At the same time, we researched the FS of both Russian and foreign organizations in order to draw conclusions about the problems of preparing FS in accordance with International Standards, which are typical for most modern organizations in different countries. When conducting research, we used methods such as comparison, analysis and synthesis.

Findings/Results

We identified the main problems that arise in practice when preparing FS in accordance with International Standards, which are typical for both Russian and foreign organizations. We also analysed the project of the IASB (the organization that develops these standards) to improve the requirements for the preparation of FS in accordance with International Standards. Based on the analysis carried out, we identified the main problems arising from the planned requirements of this project. As a result of the research carried out, we made proposals for solving the identified problems of the formation of FS in accordance with International Standards.

Conclusions/Recommendations/Value

Our proposals can be used to improve the regulations of International Standards for the formation of FS, and can also be applied in the practical work of modern organizations.

Sites of States with a Dynamically Developing Socio-Political Structure and Economy: Analyzing Forms and Methods of Obtaining Competitive Advantages of Transnational (Global) Companies

The purpose of this research is to comparatively analyze forms and methods of influencing transnational (global) companies on competition, including cross-border markets for goods and services at the sites of states with a dynamically developing socio-political structure and economy (for example, the BRICS countries).

The methodological apparatus of the research includes methods of economic statistics (econometrics): the method of variation analysis, the method of correlation analysis, the method of regression analysis, analysis of variance.

The article proves that the studied countries use three forms of obtaining competitive advantages: unique assets, high marketing activity, and high innovative activity. The direct results of obtaining these competitive advantages are an increase in sales, net profit and market capitalization.

Modern transnational (global) companies show high flexibility, successfully adapting to the specifics of target national and industrial markets. The influence of transnational (global) companies on competition, including cross-border markets for goods and services, is significant and contradictory. Optimization of this influence is possible, necessary and connected with implementing law enforcement practices of identifying anticompetitive actions of transnational (global) companies.

• Elena G. Popkova
• Inna V. Andronova

We’re listening — tell us what you think

Something didn’t work….

Report bugs here

All feedback is valuable

Please share your general feedback

Join us on our journey

Platform update page.

Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

Questions & More Information

Answers to the most commonly asked questions here

• Trade Finance
• Letters of Credit
• Trade Insurance & Risk
• Shipping & Logistics
• Sustainable Trade Finance
• Incoterms® Rules 2020
• Research & Data
• Conferences
• Purchase Order Finance
• Stock Finance
• Structured Commodity Finance
• Receivables Finance
• Supply Chain Finance
• Bonds and Guarantees
• Find Finance Products
• Get Trade Finance

• Incoterms® 2020
• Letters of Credit (LCs)

CASE STUDIES

Trade finance global provides solutions that enable companies to access international trade opportunities.

Soft commodities trader

• Funding amount requested from the company: $50 million 
• Item: soft commodities (sugar, coffee, cocoa, sugar)
• Finance solutions: single obligor receivables facility, with scope to scale

Metals Trader

• Funding amount requested from the company: $225 million 
• Item: metals
• Finance solutions: receivables purchase facility

Food distribution company

• Funding amount requested from the company: €7.5 million
• Item: grain, food, feed ingredients
• Finance solutions: trade, inventory, and invoice finance facility

Hardware distribution company in e-commerce

• Funding amount requested from the company: €2.5 million 
• Item: consumer goods (toys, games, DIY)
• Finance solution: supplier credit facility

Energy trading group

• Funding amount requested from the company: $150 million 
• Item: oil, gas, power, energy
• Finance solutions: multi-obligor receivables finance facilities

Clothing company

• Funding amount requested from the company: $5.2 million 
• Item: clothing 
• Finance solution: letter of credit and receivables line

Apply for trade finance with these simple steps

Talk to us about what you need to finance for, we’ll do the groundwork and find you funders, we’ll walk you through different funding options, and rest assured, we assist you throughout your funding journey.

More Finance Options

Confused about the different finance options? Here are some quick links to the most popular types of finance we serve.

Comments are closed.

Featured Posts

Demystifying payment modernisation: separating fact from fiction, podcast | unlocking mexico’s trade potential: banorte and icc mexico’s gerardo gutierrez-olvera discusses strategies for the future, tfg weekly trade briefing, 15th april 2024, uk trade trends: importer and exporter population trending down in 2023, more from the trade finance hub, cleareye.ai and surecomp partner to enhance ai powered trade finance automation, lloyds bank completes its first wavebl electronic bill of lading transaction, afreximbank to provide $1b crude oil prepayment facility to nigeria, wto’s “global trade outlook and statistics” report indicates positive movement amid challenges, trade finance global and commoditythursdays partner to enhance collaboration in the commodity industry, lloyds bank trade insights: the new era of working capital management, a treasurer’s view.

About the Author

Deepesh Patel is Editorial Director at Trade Finance Global (TFG). In this role, Deepesh leads efforts in developing TFG’s brand, relationships and strategic direction in key markets, including the UK, US, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Deepesh regularly chairs and speaks at international industry events with the WTO, BCR, Excred, TXF, The Economist and Reuters, as well as industry associations including ICC, FCI, ITFA, ICISA and BAFT.

Deepesh is the host of the ‘Trade Finance Talks’ podcast and ‘Trade Finance Talks TV’. He is co-author of ‘Blockchain for Trade: A Reality Check’ with the ICC and the WTO, alongside other industry research.

In addition to his work at TFG, Deepesh is a Strategic Advisor for WOA, and works closely with ITFA. He also sits on the Fintech Working Group of the Standardised Trust.

Prior to TFG, Deepesh worked at Travelex where he was responsible for the cards business and the Travelex Money app in Europe, NAM, UK and Brazil. Deepesh is Chair of Governors and co-opted LA Governor of the Wyvern Federation, which has responsibility for 5 primary schools in South London.

Browse Econ Literature

• Working papers
• Software components
• Book chapters
• JEL classification

More features

• Subscribe to new research

RePEc Biblio

Author registration.

• Economics Virtual Seminar Calendar NEW!

International Trade Problems and India: A Case Study

• Author & abstract
• 4 References
• Most related
• Related works & more

Corrections

(Assistant Professor in Commerce, DDE, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu.)

Suggested Citation

Download full text from publisher, references listed on ideas.

Follow serials, authors, keywords & more

Public profiles for Economics researchers

Various research rankings in Economics

RePEc Genealogy

Who was a student of whom, using RePEc

Curated articles & papers on economics topics

Upload your paper to be listed on RePEc and IDEAS

New papers by email

Subscribe to new additions to RePEc

EconAcademics

Blog aggregator for economics research

Cases of plagiarism in Economics

About RePEc

Initiative for open bibliographies in Economics

News about RePEc

Questions about IDEAS and RePEc

RePEc volunteers

Participating archives

Publishers indexing in RePEc

Privacy statement

Found an error or omission?

Opportunities to help RePEc

Get papers listed

Have your research listed on RePEc

Open a RePEc archive

Have your institution's/publisher's output listed on RePEc

Get RePEc data

Use data assembled by RePEc

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Home   |  About WTO   |  News & events   |  Trade topics   |  WTO membership   |  Documents & resources   |  External relations

Contact us   |  Site map   |  A-Z   |  Search

• publications
• case studies
• introduction

MANAGING THE CHALLENGES OF WTO PARTICIPATION: CASE STUDIES

Introduction

45 case studies from economies around the world, each of which illustrates how governments, business and civil society manage their country’s participation in the World Trade Organization.

   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the case studies and any errors or omissions therein are the responsibility of their authors and not of the editors of this volume or of the institutions with which they are affiliated. The authors of the case studies wish to disassociate the institutions with which they are associated from opinions expressed in the case studies and from any errors or omission therein.

> Case Studies main page

 ON THIS PAGE: > I. What is in this book > II. Playing the game > The case studies > III. The big picture > IV. Some themes > Accession > Disputes > Standards and SPS > Intellectual property > Services > Advocacy and ‘democratic accountability’ > An ‘agent of restraint’ > Two special regions > V. Who’s in charge?

I. What is in this book 

This book brings together forty-five case studies from economies around the world, each of which illustrates how governments, business and civil society manage their country’s participation in the World Trade Organization. ( 1 )

The case studies make a mosaic image of what it takes, at the start of the twenty-first century, to manage the integration of an economy into the global trading system and what the rewards, or penalties, of integration can be for economies of all sizes, including many of the world’s poorest and most resource-poor economies.

They show, through ‘real world’ examples, that joining the WTO and taking advantage of WTO membership is not something to be left to government alone. It calls for the participation of many different ‘stakeholders’ in an economy, including goods and services producers, industry associations, consumer associations, civil society groups and academic analysts.

They also show that people representing those different national interests and institutions take most of the significant decisions affecting an economy’s participation in the global trading system. The WTO itself has only a secondary role; it helps to define the context of a trade policy decision but doesn’t compel the choice of one policy over another.

The case studies include success stories, some stories of failure or frustration, one or two ‘disasters’ and some stories that are open-ended because the final outcome is not yet known.

Each of the case studies speaks for itself. The rest of this introduction provides some topical summaries of the case studies and identifies some of the ideas that emerge from them. But there are many more things in the cases themselves that we haven’t covered here.

II. Playing the game 

Do you remember watching a sporting event for the first time? A game whose rules you didn’t understand?

Confusing, wasn’t it? You could probably guess the objective of the game by watching the scoreboard, but without knowing the rules it can be very difficult to understand why the players are doing what they do and who’s getting ahead in the game and who’s falling behind.

Now, imagine that you are watching a game that has about 150 players on the field and no scoreboard. Imagine, too, that the rulebook for this game has twenty-eight thick chapters and thousands of pages of footnotes and clarifications, so that there is some doubt about whether even the players know all the rules. Watching each player in this game is a stadium filled with millions of followers — a mixture of supporters and critics — who are continually shouting encouragement or instructions to the players while betting furiously on the outcome of every play.

To make things even harder to follow, this game doesn’t have a referee: the players have to manage the game for themselves. And without a referee to blame whenever the play seems to go against their team, some spectators have taken to abusing the staff at the stadium.

The multilateral trading system is not a game, of course; being a member of WTO isn’t much like play. But the trading system managed in the WTO is a huge and frequently confusing enterprise in which a large and complex set of rules governs the way that governments — the main ‘players’ — interact.

As in some sports, the ‘spectators’ sitting just outside the field of play — billions of ordinary business people and citizens — are an important part of the ‘game’. All the gains and losses end up in their hands and, ultimately, for reasons that we shall see in this book, the future of the game is also in their hands. But most members of the public don’t understand the game very well and some of them suspect that the rules, which have been agreed among the players beforehand, are stacked against them.

This book is a sort of guide to the game, from a spectator’s viewpoint or, to be more precise, from the viewpoint of more than forty spectators.

There continues to be a considerable amount of misunderstanding about the role of the World Trade Organization as an institution. One still hears complaints about giving up sovereignty to faceless bureaucrats on the shores of Lake Geneva. Most of this book demonstrates just how much sovereign discretion economies participating in the system wield. It really is true that the WTO is a member-driven organization.

We hope that the cases in this book will help dispel the mystery and encourage more people to take a more active role in the ‘game’ in future. When you read the cases, you will probably recognize many of the issues that they raise and the challenges faced by the people at the centre of the story. Many of the stories told here for the first time are repeated every day in economies around the world: you can probably find very similar stories in the business press in your own city.

The case studies  back to top

This book is the result of a project that has been jointly funded by the WTO and the Australian government’s official aid agency, AusAID, to encourage better understanding of how the multilateral trading system works. Our sponsors agreed to allow us to seek case studies, predominantly written by observers and analysts in developing countries, that would detail some aspect of the way in which the stakeholders in a particular economy worked together to manage a problem or to make the most of an opportunity related to WTO membership.

We contacted authors in about fifty economies, many of them in academic institutions, and gave them a very short brief that left the choice of subject matter and approach entirely up to them. We did not ask for ‘success stories’ and we made it clear that the analysis of the issues, including their assessment of the value or role of the WTO, was a matter for their own judgement.

We have accepted for publication virtually all the cases that reached a final draft within the time constraints we placed on the authors. So, as much as possible, this is an ‘un-retouched’ snapshot of participation in the WTO seen — mostly — from around the developing world about ten years after the organization was founded.

III. The big picture 

The cases in this book cover a wide range of commercial and government activities.

A Bangladeshi rock band finds that a ‘Bollywood’ movie producer has pirated one of its songs; band members use the provisions of the WTO to regain their rights.

The tiny Pacific island economy of Vanuatu decides to suspend its application for WTO membership when its inexperienced government administrators fail to find a sympathetic hearing from existing WTO members.

An ‘inside’ account of how India struggled to develop a national consensus on the liberalization of its protected agriculture sector.

The Kenyan government fights for the right, under the WTO Agreements, to import AIDS drugs manufactured elsewhere under ‘compulsory licences’ for use in Kenya. It finds that the issue of patent protection under its own legislation is not straightforward and that the patent law changes are not the biggest barrier to reducing the impact of the disease.

The tuna industry of Thailand fights to retain access to the European Union (EU) market on comparable terms to its competitors, but manages to avoid a costly formal dispute adjudication.

Chilean poultry exporters and government officials act urgently to handle an animal health emergency that could have killed exports to the vital European market, making effective use of international standards and notification procedures established by the WTO.

An exporter of traditional herbal medicines from Nepal runs into regulatory barriers he cannot understand or do much about until Nepal joins the WTO and the Nepalese government creates a regulatory framework that helps him to meet his customers’ expectations of good manufacturing practice.

The Mexican government is backed into a corner, domestically, by the powerful Peasants’ Union’s revolt against imports from the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); the facts show, however, that the agreement has opened up new horizons for Mexican industry that could be extended by multilateral negotiation.

Nigerian industry is penalized by a system of import prohibitions that have strong political support but are economically costly — why Nigeria’s WTO obligations don’t offer a solution.

IV. Some themes 

The accession of developing economies to the WTO has proved to be a major challenge to their government administration as well as to the content of their trade policies. It’s a gruelling procedure requiring the preparation of detailed memoranda on foreign trade policies and practices and a convincing commitment to implement the WTO Agreements — without access, in most cases, to the lengthy implementation delays that were available to members of the WTO when the agreements were first negotiated. They must also negotiate bilateral trade deals with their most important trading partners, intended to ensure that they ‘pay’ for the rights that they will acquire as WTO members. The process often involves years of detailed examination by a working party and lengthy rounds of negotiation.

During this time it is not at all unusual for domestic pressures on the government to mount, as business and civil society — lacking experience with the WTO and fearful of the consequences of market liberalization — demand more details about the benefits of membership and often question the impact of the WTO rules on the economy’s sovereignty.

Several cases in this collection provide new perspectives from the inside on this difficult process.

Damedin Tsogtbaatar reveals how the objectives of the business community and even of the government were shaped by Mongolia ’ s historical experience before its accession bid. He shows how these false expectations led to ill-prepared negotiations, less advantageous accession terms than might have been achieved and subsequent disenchantment with the WTO that had a lingering effect on Mongolian trade policy.

Vanuatu , an island economy in the Melanesian group, was also ill-prepared for its attempts to accede to the WTO. It had few government and private-sector resources to support its accession efforts and lacked the administrative resources to inform its domestic stakeholders or adequately to prepare for the bilateral negotiations. The government of Vanuatu (population 200, 000), like the government of China (population more than 1 billion), had chosen to make membership of the WTO an integral step in its objective of closer integration with the global economy. But economic reforms stalled along with the WTO bid, due in part to lack of adequate planning and national consensus on the objectives. The account by Daniel Gay reveals an unmistakeable bitterness in Vanuatu regarding the attitude of its major trading partners towards its WTO bid and even the role of the WTO secretariat.

In China the story of this historic change in economic direction is still unfolding, but the impression given by Gong Baihua of the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Centre is that business and government are much more confident of their ability to control and to benefit from China’s integration with the global economy.

Following the Vanuatu experience WTO members changed their approach to the accession of least-developed economies to reduce the administrative burdens on poor economies and to lower the bar to their entry. Nepal — whose accession had been slowed by political turmoil and security problems — was one of the first beneficiaries of this new approach, being invited to join WTO at the Cancún Ministerial meeting. P. R. Rajkarnikar tells the story of the leadership of a regional non-governmental organization (NGO), SAWTEE, in promoting consensus on membership during the final stages of the process and of the influence that SAWTEE’ s views had on specific issues relating to Nepal’s accession such as plant breeders’ rights.

Cambodia , too, was welcomed into the WTO at the Cancún meeting at a time when the constitutional machinery for ratifying the Agreement was not in place. Hach Sok and Samnang Chea examine the degree to which the accession was negotiated with the informed support of the business community and ask whether Cambodia, whose trade depends heavily on the export of garments, is well prepared for the future management of integration into global markets.

One of the most controversial aspects of recent accessions has been the demand by existing members that new members achieve still greater openness than is required by the current agreements. This was certainly one of the problems faced by Vanuatu .

The liberalization of markets that follows accession may also move the acceding economy to make consequential changes to its policies in order to take full advantage of accession. This is the case in Vietnam where, as Phan Van Sam and Vo Thanh Thu point out, liberalization of the banking sector — although not strictly required by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) — is essential to ensure that Vietnamese firms can make the best of their new opportunities for integration with global markets.

Disputes  back to top

How do developing countries fare under the WTO dispute settlement system? Does it work for or against their interests? Are they able to afford the legal advice that they need in order to bring a case? Are they able to achieve satisfactory resolution of their problems when they do not have the economic power to ‘retaliate’ if so authorized by the Dispute Settlement Body? Can they afford to fight one case after another if necessary to protect their interests in a global market?

Several case studies help to throw some light on the answers to these questions. One of the first cases after the creation of WTO involved a dramatic contrast in the economic size and resources of the disputants. John Breckenridge tells the story of Costa Rica ’ s successful assertion of its rights under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing against US safeguard actions. The victory for Costa Rica in this case — due, says the author, to better preparation as well as the merits of its case — was a signal to other developing countries that the system would work to protect the interests of all members.

Pakistan , too, was successful in challenging US textile safeguards in the late 1990s, as Turab Hussain recounts. This case details some of the practical aspects of preparing a case and the potentially ambiguous ‘victories’ that formal dispute adjudication can bring. The government of Pakistan was party to a WTO dispute for the first time. According to the author it was not well equipped for the case and relied heavily on the specialist knowledge and funding resources of the textile industry association and its members. After persisting with the case before the Textile Monitoring Body and eventually before a disputes panel and an appeal, Pakistan’s objections to the three-year US safeguard quota were upheld. But it had taken almost all of those same three years — and a lot of money — to win the case. Pakistan’s victory was, in the view of the industry, mostly one of principle.

Nilaratna Xuto contributes a case study from Thailand in which close collaboration between government officials and industry leaders challenged proposed changes in EU tariff preferences. The Thai tuna case illustrates the operation of the conciliation procedures in WTO disputes, using the good offices of the Director General of the WTO. These provisions of the disputes mechanism do not capture headlines in the same way as a panel adjudication, but they offer many advantages as this case shows, including less contentious procedures, and significantly lower costs.

It is important to remember that no WTO dispute is supposed to be contentious$.$ Of course, there can be a lot of heat generated between the disputants at the time. But the resolution of disputes serves a positive purpose for all WTO members by helping to smooth world trade and by clarifying how national trade regulations should operate to give effect to the principles of the WTO Agreements.

The WTO disputes system helps to do this even with regard to regional agreements, where disputes among the parties can be even more bitter than those among WTO members at large. An interesting instance of this is the story that Diana Tussie and Valentina Delich tell about the challenge that Argentina raised to Chilean variable levies imposed on imports of vegetable oils, after it had tried unsuccessfully to resolve the matter in the context of the Mercosur regional agreement.

Another surprising aspect of dispute settlement is the confidence-building effect that a successful case can have, affecting the attitude of government and stakeholders towards global economic integration. Junsok Yang’s account of the case brought by South Korea against US anti-dumping measures on colour televisions confirms that preparation for a dispute that demands close collaboration between officials and business people has a positive impact on domestic trade policy-making. For South Korea the result was a more confident participation in the WTO and a more positive view of the benefits of ‘globalization’ of the economy.

The South Korean colour television dispute had its origins in anti-dumping actions taken in the 1980s. Today, anti-dumping actions continue to give rise to serious disputes, as we can see from B. Battarcharyya’s very recent case study on the work that the Indian shrimp exporting industry and the government of India have undertaken to fight a dumping charge in the United States. Whether this and related cases also targeting shrimp exports will be subject to WTO challenge may be known by the time this book is published. Bhattarcharyya’s account suggests, however, that in addition to the financial considerations a decision to pursue a WTO dispute should include an evaluation of the strategic interests of the industry in a lengthy legal tussle.

There is a valuable lesson on this same point in Jacqueline Krikorian’s story of Canada ’ s unsuccessful defence of its discriminatory implementation of tariff benefits associated with its side of the US-Canada Auto Pact. She concludes that it was a case fought for the wrong reasons in an attempt to defend a policy whose original objectives had already been bypassed in the marketplace. Friction with trading partners, uncertainty for the automobile industry and a lot of expense might have been spared, in her view, if the Canadian authorities had elected not to defend their policies.

Standards and SPS  back to top

We asked all the case study authors to tell the story of a challenge or an opportunity faced by business in the world trading system. The stories that they tell range over many forms of trade barriers, but the most challenging seem to be those related to standards for health or safety, including food safety. Import regulations that fall under the provisions of the WTO’ s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) or the Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures (SPS) are multiplying around the world. They are typically complex regulations, frequently implementing standards that create a high hurdle for imports. Developing country exporters whose own governments may not implement similar standards sometimes find it difficult to understand what steps are required for compliance with these standards, even when the standards themselves have international sanction.

Bijendra Shakya’s story about the Gorkha Ayurved company of Nepal illustrates all of these factors. The principal of the company, which exports herbal medicines, had to find out for himself about the meaning of the compliance requirements of his customers and to find ways of certifying compliance ahead of government moves to implement an appropriate regulatory structure.

Even legitimate SPS barriers can result in total import prohibitions, so that the stakes can be very high for developing country exporters with limited resources to manage compliance with stringent food health requirements. Rina Oktaviani’s study of the EU barriers faced by the Indonesian shrimp industry shows how little room there is for manoeuvre in such cases and the critical importance of good information flows between government and industry in finding means, within the resources of the export industry, to meet the market requirements.

Excellent information flow and a high priority on transparency with authorities in export markets were keys to the successful management of the health emergency in Chile ’ s poultry industry, as told by Claudia Orozco. The Chilean industry and government officials on-site, as well as the Chilean representatives in Brussels and in the OIE (International Office of Epizootics) were immediately alert to the importance of informing all concerned about the nature of the outbreak of avian flu. They handled the emergency successfully because their openness maintained the confidence of the European authorities, allowing them to win agreement to the regionalization of the problem, reducing its commercial impact and making a solution easier to implement.

The Colombian authorities were not so forthcoming about a standards barrier that they imposed on the Malaysian latex condom industry, according to Norma Mansor, Noor Hasniah Kasim and Yong Sook Lu. This case suggests that it may be necessary to ‘read between the lines’ to understand the commercial impact of an apparently innocuous labelling requirement. It would have been possible for government officials on either side to make a mistake had it not been for the WTO standards notification system that alerted the Malaysian firm to the potential problem with the Colombian labelling requirement and provided a mechanism for an official Malaysian response. In this case, as in many potential trade disputes that surface in the WTO, it appears that the proposal was quietly withdrawn and the problem went away.

The non-discriminatory application of SPS barriers, such as those affecting imports of farmed shrimp into the EU, means that they frequently affect a number of exporters at the same time. Several Pacific Island Forum economies are potentially affected by the EU’ s health ban on imports of traditional kava root products. These economies have already banded together in their participation in the WTO, establishing a joint representative office in Geneva to save on funds and to make the best use of experienced personnel. Chakriya Bowman describes in her case study how this initiative will help Papua New Guinea , Samoa and Fiji to work closely together to respond to the unique threat to their multi-million dollar exports of kava-based products.

Industries seeking protection press governments of both developed and developing countries to implement standards or SPS barriers, because they can offer much higher levels of protection than most tariffs. Isidro Morales-Moreno’s case study of Mexican agricultural policies following the implementation of NAFTA describes instances of the use of SPS barriers to reduce adjustment pressures on Mexican farmers.

Intellectual property  back to top

One of the most controversial aspects of the 1995 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was the evidence that rights-holders of trade-related intellectual property were mostly in industrialized countries and that developing countries were mostly importers of trade-related intellectual property. Critics said that the TRIPS Agreement was more advantageous to the former than to the latter WTO members who, nonetheless, faced heavy implementation obligations.

The cases set out in this book do not resolve the controversy, but it is interesting that those we received that relate to TRIPS show developing country export interest in intellectual property and some success stories, as well as challenges on the import side.

S. C. Srivastava has provided a detailed account of the determined legal defences mounted by the Tea Board of India to protect its registered geographical indication (GI) of ‘Darjeeling’ in France, Japan and Russia. Although the Tea Board’s objections to the registration of marks that they considered infringed their rights were not always successful — notably in France, where the Indian registration was not given reciprocal rights according to Srivastava — the case points to the heavy legal burden that the maintenance of a GI, like the maintenance of any trademark, can impose.

Amir Muhammed and Wajid H. Pirzada have compiled a case study related to recent negotiations between Pakistan and the EU on European access barriers to Basmati rice, in which the authoritative designation of rice as ‘Basmati’ may hold the key to maintaining Pakistan’s access to the EU market. Unfortunately, as the authors point out, the government of Pakistan has not yet implemented its proposed legislation on the registration of such names.

Of course, copyright is unique among the major intellectual property categories in not requiring any registration process. One of the happiest outcomes for a developing country intellectual property rights-holder is to be found in Abul Kalam Azad’s case on the triumphant defence of their copyright by the well-known Bangladedshi rock band, Miles. The band was able to obtain summary judgment in the Indian courts against the piracy of their music by a Bollywood producer, thanks to the rights established by the TRIPS Agreement.

Darker and more complex problems figure in Ben Sihanya’s case study on the parallel importing and compulsory licensing of patented AIDS drugs in Kenya . The case provides an insider’s report on efforts to ensure a supply of effective, low-cost drugs for the fight against AIDS in Africa, and examines the controversy over the TRIPS Agreement’s restrictions on trade in compulsorily licensed drugs. The Kenyan objective, according to Sihanya, was to ensure that the patents served the interests of both rights-holders and consumers. This balance was expressed in Kenyan law as well as in the TRIPS Agreement. Part of the challenge in ‘reinterpreting’ the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement was to maintain this balance of interests when the compulsorily licensed drugs were made available for export. But, in Sihanya’s view, the change to the TRIPS provisions did not necessarily address the most significant barriers to effective public health delivery to AIDS victims.

Services  back to top

Although services form a rapidly growing part of developing country trade and already provide a significant contribution to a higher balance in their trade account, the level of developing member commitments under GATS remains low. A developing country with significantly higher service commitments than many others is Argentina . As Roberto Bouzas and Hernán Soltz argue, this is most likely to be the result of a coincidence in time between multilateral liberalization efforts and domestic policy reform. In this case the multilateral negotiations were seized upon as an opportunity to push domestic reform.

Soledad Salvador and Paola Azar study the efforts made in Uruguay to develop a new ‘institutional channel’ for public/private-sector co-ordination on GATS issues. The authors believe that the dialogue suffered from a lack of commitment on both sides, and from some institutional resistance and poor information flows that fed existing suspicions — on the part of unions and civil society organizations, for example — about the objectives and consequences of services liberalization. They point to the need to evaluate objectively the domestic impacts and opportunities of services market access. Without such evaluation, the authors argue, the personal views of negotiators and officials may assume more importance than agreed national objectives in determining the GATS commitments eventually subscribed.

J. P. Singh presents a case that contrasts the superficially similar approaches to GATS negotiations of two small Central American economies, Belize and Costa Rica . Noting the low level of commitments offered by developing countries in the GATS negotiations, he asks why economies with vibrant service sub-sectors and in serious need of foreign investment or with sizable service export surpluses make such low commitments.

The evidence that follows for the two countries confirms the essentially bottom-up nature of GATS: both countries choose particular sectors for commitment — at levels acceptable to domestic actors. Interestingly, they also exhibit significant policy differences: Costa Rica was positioning itself to take advantage of being a service-based export-led economy; Belize remains ambivalent about the role of services in general and GATS commitments in particular.

Linda Schmid has a services success story to tell about the experience of telecommunications liberalization in the small Caribbean island economy of Barbados , whose flavour can be represented by this cameo from her account:

An itinerant gardener who makes his way to work and carries his tools with him on his bicycle passed me while I was in a traffic jam. I needed help with my garden, flagged him down, and asked if he might be available. I reached for a pen and paper. He pulled out his cell phone, entered my data, and that evening I had a phone message to schedule a garden site visit. He was using his cell phone as a client database. Individuals with minimal economic means are employing this lower cost technology to enhance the way they work and communicate with others.

She notes, however, that creating regulatory institutions to oversee a competitive market in telecommunications or other newly liberalized services sectors such as banking, insurance or securities is a challenge to WTO members with limited financial and human resources.

Malathy Knight-John and Chethana Ellepola would, presumably, agree about the regulatory challenges. Their account of the implementation of the provisions of the GATS Telecommunications Reference Paper points to gains for Sri Lanka from the liberalization of the telecoms market that followed GATS. But they also identify wide gaps between the global expectations reflected in the Reference Paper and Sri Lanka’s performance in the crucial area of interconnection. The authors describe a complex political economy created by a large number of small players and a small number of large public switched telecommunication network operators who, in the absence of an effective post-liberalization regulatory regime, have been able to cartelize aspects of the market.

Advocacy and ‘democratic accountability’  back to top

Where do WTO decisions come from? From the member governments: there is no other source of decisions in the WTO. Not even the recommendations of the disputes panels or the Appellate Body become decisions of the WTO until the member governments say so. ( 2 )

So, how do individual member governments decide what to say on any particular issue? That question lies at the heart of what might be called the ‘democratic accountability’ issue for any intergovernmental organization like the WTO. Do the decisions of the WTO have ‘democratic’ credentials in the sense that the member governments’ policies and regulations are based on a democratic mandate and on the processes that we expect in any democracy such as public information, consultation with stakeholders and accountability to citizens for the decisions taken?

The case studies in this book show that the answer is, in general, ‘yes’. We see evidence in almost all cases that governments are ready to inform and consult with private-sector stakeholders when they are preparing for a WTO decision or negotiation. Most governments seem to appreciate, too, that such consultations are essential to ensure that government is well informed about the consequences of its actions in the WTO.

There are, however, two different aspects to this co-ordination with stakeholders: advocacy — which can be ‘lobbying’ for private benefit or something more public-spirited — and accountability , which means, at a minimum, government responsiveness to the demands of stakeholders and citizens.

In most of the cases in this book there is an element of advocacy by producers that prompts governments to inform and consult. Producers whose interests are at stake in a trade policy measure are likely to lobby for government consideration and support particularly where a foreign trade remedy measure is involved (Pakistan — cotton, India — shrimp, Costa Rica — garments) or some other external event threatens changes in market access terms (Thailand — tuna, Malaysia — condoms, Chile — poultry). In most of these cases we see the formation or expansion of producer coalitions designed to address a specific, WTO-related trade challenge to trade in a particular product. In several of these case studies the authors also suggest that the experience gained by the coalition, and the links it develops with the government in the course of the events recounted in the case, will continue to provide a base for co-ordination in the future.

Jean-Marie Paugam, for example, tells the story of the co-ordination of French negotiating positions, particularly on agriculture, in the lead-up to the Cancún ministerial meeting. Although France exercises its influence on the WTO agenda through the European Community’s position, Paugam provides an analysis of a very well-informed, experienced, sophisticated stakeholder community whose inputs into both the French and Community’s negotiating position is persistent, co-ordinated and effective. ‘Overall’, Paugam notes, ‘in keeping with theoretical predictions, protected producers are more likely to organize themselves efficiently when their interests are concentrated and their consumers dispersed. In a context of declining agricultural support, concentrated potential “losers” proved very active.’

Two other case studies also use the agricultural sector to analyze the challenges of including non-governmental actors in the decision-making process. The study on Venezuela by Rita Giacalone and Eduardo Porcarelli shows that the issue is not simply whether both government and the private sector are serious about engaging in dialogue. They refer to the need for ‘avoidance of politicization’ in consultative processes and argue that ‘private-sector associations should carefully tread the waters of domestic politics in order to have the right to participate . . . ‘ Shishir Priyadarshi’s study of decision-making on agriculture in India traces an open and generally successful consultative process. But he also notes that this inclusiveness and transparency may have pre-conditioned the government’s stance and favoured a defensive posture.

Niel Joubert’s study of the development of the anti-dumping regime in South Africa reveals that even where consultative mechanisms are well established, they may simply serve to bless decisions that have already been taken or positions that have been defined in anticipation of negotiations with other countries. Joubert notes that governments may well have to choose trade-offs that disregard non-governmental stakeholder inputs, but this does not necessarily mean that these were disregarded from the outset.

There seems to be a qualitative difference between the lobbying of producers in the context of WTO negotiations — where the potential responses of the government are constrained by the need to reach reciprocal agreements with trading partners — and lobbying where the government is not so constrained.

From Nigeria , for example, Ademola Oyejide, Olawale Ogunkola and Abiodun Bankole bring us a case of an import prohibition policy that seems to escape the constraints of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules because it falls under a WTO exception. The authors argue that the policy has failed despite a degree of popular support. Although its nominal purpose is to secure the economy’s balance of payments, the latter is determined primarily by developments in the world oil market; the import prohibitions have relatively little impact. The real force behind the use of this policy instrument, according to the authors, is the protection of domestic producers, but there is little evidence that protection has produced the desired result of a greater degree of import replacement or higher export earnings.

Sometimes producers join in sector-wide or even cross-sector advocacy that may include non-producer interests (Philippines — co-ordination, Brazil — G20, India — agriculture, Kenya — co-ordination, France — co-ordination). Here the need to accommodate divergent interests is likely to defeat attempts at ‘lobbying’ on behalf of product or sector objectives and to result in more strategic ‘advocacy’ by the private sector, taking account of economy-wide goals.

Pedro da Motta Veiga brings us an example of this broadly based policy advocacy in his insider’s account of Brazil ’ s role in the formation of the G20 group of developing countries and the interaction of Brazilian ministries and industry in those events. He writes:

Brazil’s negotiations strategy was driven not only by the internal dynamics of the agricultural negotiations in the WTO, but also by a broader shift in the country’s foreign economic policies — especially in its trade negotiations strategy — towards a view where the North-South axis acquired a growing relevance. Brazil’s leadership in the setting of the G20 is perhaps the best example, at the multilateral level, of the country’s new ‘southern’ stance in trade negotiations.

In several cases, too, we see evidence of accountability : that is, the willingness of governments to take responsibility for their decisions or to share with stakeholder representatives responsibility for decisions (India — agriculture, Chile — poultry, Thailand — tuna, Brazil — G20, Barbados — telecommunications, Philippines — agriculture, China — consultation).

Donah Sharon Baracol gives us an insight into the Philippines formal consultation process on agriculture negotiations: the Task Force on WTO Agriculture (Re)Negotiations (TF-WAR). The Task Force was formed as a result of grass-roots demand for a review of the Philippines negotiating approaches before the Seattle Ministerial meeting, and it remains, according to Philippines officials, a principal source of information for agricultural industry stakeholders as well as of guidance for the government in formulating its position. The strength of the consultation process and its broad base provides, according to the author, a form of security for Philippines negotiators against the pressures of third parties in the negotiations.

But consultation and co-ordination are expensive: they use resources that are scarce in any economy — especially small and developing economies — such as the time and attention of government officials and private-sector representatives. We also find several cases where the challenges described by the author are due to consultation and accountability mechanisms that are under-resourced and unco-ordinated (Uruguay — services, Kenya — co-ordination, Botswana — co-ordination) or slow to start (Pakistan — textiles, Uganda — co-ordination, Malawi — co-ordination).

Several African case studies contain examples of co-ordination problems and failures due in part to the cost of building appropriate institutions.

Walter Odhiambo, Paul Kamau and Dorothy McCormick are critical of the consultative process in Kenya that is managed through the National Committee for the WTO (NCWTO). The membership of the national consultative body — responsible for recommendations on all aspects of Kenya’s participation in WTO — was based in part on its ‘enquiry point’/notification obligations under the Uruguay Round agreements. The committee is large and hierarchically structured, and has a heavy agenda of meetings. But without political commitment, funding, legal status, decision-making powers or consistent participation from the private sector it has provided limited inputs into government decisions. For all its shortcomings, however, the authors believe that it has had an impact on the dissemination of information and on an increased private-sector awareness of the WTO in Kenya.

Tonia Kandiero argues that stakeholders in Malawi have reason to be disappointed with the organization of their representation in the WTO, and suggests that changes are needed in the co-ordination of technical assistance to Malawi to ensure that its need for a better understanding of the WTO and more effective representation can be met.

Nichodemus Rudaheranwa and Vernetta Barungi Atingi-Ego from Uganda list six areas of investment needed to support full participation in the WTO, and argue that developing countries need to consider investments in trade negotiating capacity and the resourcing of their stakeholder consultation mechanisms as a development project, creating the institutions needed for trade-led growth.

The case studies related to accession to the WTO (see above) show that the process frequently leads to the creation of organized coalitions.

An ‘agent of restraint’  back to top

The authors of the Nigerian case study draw a lesson that may have wider application:

Nigeria’s membership of the WTO provides it, in principle, with a strong external trade policy surveillance mechanism. But the role of the WTO as an ‘agent of restraint’ in favour of good trade policy is feasible only to the extent that two important conditions are met. First, the government whose behaviour is to be ‘restrained’ must be committed to good trade policy and thus be willing to tie its own hand and use an external treaty obligation to strengthen its hand against local vested interests.

Governments are usually aware that to change a trade measure such as a tariff, a quota or a subsidy means hurting someone — possibly someone now relying on low-cost imports — who will never forget the hurt. It also means helping someone else who will never remember that the government did them a favour by raising a trade barrier.

Thus many governments learn to be grateful that the rules of the WTO limit what they could otherwise easily do: lift rates of protection or give new subsidies. As a matter of fact, it is rare that the WTO rules absolutely prohibit a government from taking whatever action the latter deems necessary. But the role of the WTO as an ‘agent of restraint’ in favour of good trade policy proves valuable to governments around the world every day, because every day governments are under pressure to raise a barrier — or simply to maintain a barrier — to help some industry or other.

Take the case of the Philippines customs valuation measures brought to us by Ramon L. Clarete. The case provides a history of efforts by the Philippines government and Congress to develop a transparent, effective means of valuing imports to ensure that neither importers nor, potentially, customs officials could defraud the government of its revenue from duties and that protection levels would be maintained while the government met its obligation to base collections on transaction values. Working within the restraints imposed by the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation enabled the Philippines authorities to bypass pressure from interested lobbies and adopt a more transparent system, with post-entry audits, that has lowered barriers to trade and has increased customs revenue.

Two special regions  back to top

We have taken special care in this book to include cases from the smallest and most disadvantaged economies, particularly the island economies of the Pacific such as Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and land-locked economies such as Botswana, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal and Zambia.

We expected to find that these economies faced specific problems and we hoped to find some useful ideas or perspectives that would emerge from their common experience and help them — and others — to find specific solutions in the future.

What we found was that these economies face many of the same problems and opportunities as other economies, but have fewer resources to manage them and face greater penalties if things go wrong.

In Botswana , a land-locked economy of southern Africa, the narrowness of the economy’s productive base and its dependence on a very small number of export destinations has resulted in informal and ad hoc trade policy-making, according to Kennedy K. Mbekeani. He reports, however, that a lack of information resources in the responsible agency — experienced personnel, analytical capacity and relevant inputs from stakeholders — is the single biggest challenge to the management of Botswana’s trade policy.

Botswana’s land-locked neighbour , Malawi , has similar resource problems and similar failures of stakeholder consultation according to Tonia Kandiero, who describes the complex of supply-side constraints and policy shortcomings that have prevented Malawi from taking full advantage of its WTO membership.

Small, resource-limited economies often face difficulties in finding adequate resources to participate in negotiations. Sanoussi Bilal and Stefan Szepesi ask whether Zambia and Mauritius have been able to ‘economise’ on these resources by using possible synergies between different negotiating fora and multilateral negotiations. The issue was whether these two countries were able to use their participation in regional negotiations under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to facilitate participation in the WTO. The answer was that little exists by way of direct impact, but that there could be indirect synergies such as raising awareness, training, making information available and capacity building. But the ability to make use of these opportunities depends crucially on pre-existing capacity, and this was clear from comparisons between Zambia and Mauritius.

Buavanh Vilavong and his colleagues detail the difficulties faced by the Laotian garment industry after the garment quotas were eliminated in some of the largest export markets in January 2005. They show how, in a small, land-locked economy that is still on the road to WTO membership, the challenges of increasing productivity while maintaining access to tariff preferences are linked, creating some crucial hurdles for the industry.

Andrew Stoler paints a picture of the tough choices facing Fiji with the erosion of sugar preferences in the European market. Preference erosion is a widespread problem for developing economies; Fiji has moderated it by securing the extension of some regional preferences. But it appears that Fijians may be failing to make the best of their options for growth due to failures of consensus and co-ordination at a policy level.

Fiji’s approach to dealing with its many problems compares poorly to what is happening in another small island state, Mauritius , which, as Andrew Stoler explains, is wrestling with many of the same kinds of issues. In Fiji, political tensions stand in the way of successful co-operation between government and business. In Mauritius, government and business have a long tradition of working together for mutual benefit.

The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG), like the governments of the other islands of the Pacific, faces a major challenge sustaining its membership of the WTO. Despite having the largest economy in this group, the burdens of membership weigh heavily on PNG according to Chakriya Bowman. But, with the help of donors including Australia and the EU and with the support of the WTO Secretariat, the island economies of the Pacific Islands Forum have found a unique response to this challenge to their administrative resources: a Joint Representative Office in Geneva. Chakriya Bowman describes a specific instance in which this joint representation has helped the Pacific Islands Forum manage a standards-based threat to their exports of kava to Europe.

V. Who’s in charge? 

What do these case studies tell us about the role of the WTO in an economy’s trade policy?

There are probably as many answers to that question in this book as there are cases: the role that the WTO plays is subtly different in each account, depending on the history of the economy or its economic or constitutional circumstances. But it is clear in every case that WTO rules and WTO activities comprise only one factor among many economic, administrative, social and even constitutional factors that affect the way in which trade and related policies are decided.

In several cases governments are struggling to develop or to prosecute successful trade policies or to participate in the WTO because they lack human, administrative or financial resources. The challenge is particularly evident in the poorest economies such as Malawi, Botswana and the island economy of Vanuatu. But the case studies of Nigeria and Venezuela suggest that greater wealth does not necessarily bring with it more successful trade policy administration. Something else is needed.

Nor is the size of the economy necessarily an indicator of whether it will enjoy success in the protection of its rights or prosecution of its objectives in the WTO. We have case studies from some of the largest economies (France, Brazil and India) that show a sophisticated process of policy development based on contributions from well-informed private-sector organizations and experienced trade policy administrators. But we also have case studies — such as those from Costa Rica, Pakistan and Thailand — that show how middle-sized and even small economies with less experience in multilateral affairs can achieve significant ‘wins’ in the WTO.

Cases from southern Africa and the Pacific confirm that there is a ‘threshold’ level of the human and administrative capacity and resources that are needed to implement WTO agreements and to maintain an effective presence ‘at the table’ of WTO negotiations. The Papua New Guinea case indicates that there may be innovative ways to overcome some of these constraints, but this possible ‘exception’ only proves the rule.

Beyond that threshold, however, the case studies in this book show over and over again that the key to the successful management of participation in the WTO and the global trading system is co-ordination: among government agencies (as we see in case studies from India, Brazil and France), and between the government and private sectors (as we see in case studies from the Philippines, India (shrimp), Thailand, Mauritius, Costa Rica, Chile, Nepal (accession), Pakistan (textiles) and Argentina (services)).

Cases revealing a high level of interaction, information exchange and collaboration between business or civil society institutions and government are all ‘success stories’. Cases where, for a variety of reasons, this collaboration and information exchange breaks down (Venezuela, and to a lesser extent Uruguay) or where it does not get going (Kenya (co-ordination), Vanuatu) or where there is a misalignment of priorities between government and the private sector (Fiji, Canada (automobiles), Mongolia) tell a less happy story.

This common thread through the stories of success on the one hand and failure or frustration on the other leads, we think, to a conclusion about the role of the WTO that deserves specific emphasis. Beyond the ‘threshold’ mentioned earlier, the crucial factors in the success of an economy’s trade policy are home grown. The WTO itself is not the prime determinant of whether an economy achieves its objectives in the world trading system. The Agreements constrain government actions in the regulation of trade, but none of those constraints appears in any of these case studies as a hurdle for governments or for businesses. On the contrary, where WTO members in the stories told here directly invoke the rules (Pakistan (rice), Costa Rica (textiles), South Korea (television)) or make use of the framework of rules and obligations (Bangladesh (copyright), Chile (SPS)) the outcome is positive for developing country business. Where the rules act to constrain or direct government choices (Nigeria, Vietnam, Canada) the constraints seem likely to lead to more opportunities for trade and growth.

Decisions by the WTO determine the outcome in a small number of the case studies we have collected; for example, in some of the disputes case studies (Pakistan (textiles), Costa Rica (textiles etc.)). But in most case studies, including some disputes that were resolved without WTO adjudication (Thailand (tuna), Pakistan (rice)), there is no direct intervention by the organization in the events or trends described. The case studies tell us that the decisions that matter to members most of the time are not made in Geneva. They are decisions made by governments in direct contact with other members within the framework of the WTO system, or they are decisions made autonomously by governments about the allocation of resources within their own economies.

Perhaps the question we should ask is not ‘who’s in charge’ but ‘where does the responsibility lie’ for trade policy and for achieving success in the global economy. The answer is not — in either case — the WTO. The answer is the ‘stakeholders’ — in each member economy of the WTO, public and private sectors together.

1.- In this book we talk about participation of an economy, rather than a country, in the WTO. That is because we are not merely concerned with the way in which government actors have dealt with issues and opportunities. In each of the case studies, it is important to see how the government interacts with the local business community and other civil society elements in what might be called an economy-wide response.   back to text 2.- Although it would be very unusual, not to say difficult, for the member governments to reject a recommendation of a panel (possibly as modified by the Appellate Body).   back to text