Fast-Track Authority and International Trade Negotiations

Fast Track Authority (FTA) is the institutional procedure in the Unites States whereby Congress grants to the President the power to negotiate international trade agreements. Under FTA, Congress can only approve or reject negotiated trade deals, with no possibility of amending them. In this paper, we examine the determinants of FTA voting decisions and the implications of this institutional procedure for trade negotiations. We describe a simple two-country trade model, in which industries are unevenly distributed across con- stituencies. In the foreign country, trade negotiating authority is delegated to the executive, while in the home country Congress can retain the power to amend trade agreements. We show that legislators’ FTA voting behavior depends on the trade policy interests of their own constituencies as well as those of the majority of Congress. Empirical analysis of the determinants of all FTA votes between 1974 (when fast track was first introduced) and 2002 (when it was last granted) provides strong support for the predictions of our model.

European Union Meets South Korea: Bureaucratic Interests, Exporter Discrimination and the Negotiations of Trade Agreements

Who in the European Union drives the process of pursuing bilateral trade negotiations? In contrast to societal explanations, this article develops a novel argument as to how the European Commission manages the process and uses its position in strategic ways to pursue its interests. Rooted in principal–agent theory, the article discusses agent preferences and theorizes the conditions under which the agent sets specific focal points and interacts strategically with principals and third parties. The argument is discussed with case study evidence drawn from the first trade agreement concluded and ratified since the EU Commission announced its new strategy in 2006: the EU–South Korea trade agreement

EU Trade Actors after Lisbon: Enhanced Negotiations or Business as Usual? Brugges Political Research Paper No. 32, November 2013

As seen by the launching of trade negotiations with Japan and the United States, the European Union has shifted gears in order to achieve amplified benefits in bilateral trade agreements. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty brought the European Parliament and the European External Action Service into the picture as new actors in trade negotiations. The question arises if the new framework of trade negotiations is better off than the pre-Lisbon era. By applying Veto Players theory to the Central American Association Agreement and Principal-Agent theory to the Ukrainian Association Agreement, two results were concluded. First, the participation of the European Parliament as a veto player has decreased the effectiveness of trade negotiation. Second, the participation of the European External Action Service has shown the contrary, namely an increase of effectiveness in trade negotiations.

A report to the President, the Congress, and the United States Trade Representative concerning the Uruguay Round of negotiations on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade /

"January 15, 1994."

O papel dos grupos de interesse no "trade policy making" brasileiro: o caso das negociações Brasil-Argentina para o setor automotivo

Desde a redemocratização do país em 1985 o MRE já vinha se posicionando à favor do diálogo com os mais diversos grupos e entidades sociais. Neste sentido, observou-se ao longo dos últimos anos um aprofundamento da interação com parlamentares, governos estaduais e municipais, empresários, sindicalistas, ONGs e imprensa. A construção de vínculos entre as organizações da sociedade civil críticas das negociações comerciais ao longo da década de 1990 permite falar na criação de um novo campo de ação coletiva transnacional, definido como um espaço de ação política formado por indivíduos e organizações da sociedade civil que participam do processo de elaboração de um conjunto comum de práticas, objetivos e crenças. O que se pode concluir é que diante de um contexto mais competitivo e globalizado, após processo de abertura comercial e intensificação da participação brasileira nas negociações internacionais, a representação dos interesses da classe empresarial teve que se adaptar criando uma nova forma de organização. Desse modo, o presente trabalho visa analisar a crescente interferência de grupos de interesse no processo de tomada de decisão, no que tange aos assuntos de política externa comercial brasileira, tais como as negociações comerciais internacionais por se tratar de um ambiente cujos interesses da classe empresarial mais podem ser afetados. As negociações comerciais internacionais é o ambiente em que a atuação empresarial mais pode ser percebida. As negociações do Mercosul e da ALCA possibilitam observar a participação ativa destes novos atores. Sendo assim, o trabalho apresenta a nova dinâmica de relacionamento entre Estado e grupos da sociedade civil (classe empresarial) para temas ligados a comércio exterior.

Regulating Services Trade Agreements - A Comparative Analysis of Regulatory Disciplines Included in EU and US Free Trade Agreements

Developed countries, led by the EU and the US, have consistently called for ‘deeper integration’ over the course of the past three decades i.e., the convergence of ‘behind-the-border’ or domestic polices and rules such as services, competition, public procurement, intellectual property (“IP”) and so forth. Following the collapse of the Doha Development Round, the EU and the US have pursued this push for deeper integration by entering into deep and comprehensive free trade agreements (“DCFTAs”) that are comprehensive insofar as they are not limited to tariffs but extend to regulatory trade barriers. More recently, the EU and the US launched negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) and a Trade in Services Agreement (“TISA”), which put tackling barriers resulting from divergences in domestic regulation in the area of services at the very top of the agenda. Should these agreements come to pass, they may well set the template for the rules of international trade and define the core features of domestic services market regulation. This article examines the regulatory disciplines in the area of services included in existing EU and US DCFTAs from a comparative perspective in order to delineate possible similarities and divergences and assess the extent to which these DCFTAs can shed some light into the possible outcome and limitations of future trade negotiations in services. It also discusses the potential impact of such negotiations on developing countries and, more generally, on the multilateral process.

Re-Framing Trade

Given the substantial and increasing encroachment of trade agreements into almost every aspect of economic and social life, there is a pressing need for research that provides a more coherent framework for understanding the source and effectiveness of organised labour ’s power and capacity to influence international trade policy. Taking the union protests against the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as a case study, this research uses core concepts derived from social movement theory to analyse the opportunities that existed for unions to influence these trade negotiations and their capacity to identify and take advantage of such opportunities. Importantly, it adds a power analysis designed to reveal the sources of power that unions draw on to take action. The research demonstrates that even where unions faced considerable constraints they were able to re-frame trade issues in a way that built broad support for their position and to utilise opportunities in the trade negotiation process to mobilise resistance against the GATS and further liberalisation of services. The theoretical framework developed for the research provides conceptual tools that can be developed for improving strategic campaign planning and for analytical assessment of past campaigns. The theoretical framework developed for this research has potential for further application as an analytical and strategic planning tool for unions.

From Market- to Development Orientation - The Trade Aspect of Food Security and Agriculture

Trade rules are suggested to be one of the reasons for the hunger in the world and environmental damage. As current trade rules encourage market orientation and therefore specialization and industrialization of agriculture, which has as side effects rural hunger and environmental damage, there is room for improvement in the international trade regime. One main finding of Nexus Foundations' work in Geneva is a possible new orientation for agricultural and food markets – an orientation on development, rather than purely on markets. This development orientation consists of several elements from development of soil fertility to local markets and consumer relatedness. Since the Bali Ministerial in 2013, the WTO has set up a four year work programme on the issue of food security related to food reserves. This opens the chance to discuss broader food security issues in the realm of trade negotiations.

Settlement of Disputes Within the World Trade Organisation: A Guide to the Jurisprudence

The Urugauy Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations led to the development of a revised set of procedures on dispute settlement. These procedures dealt with a number of significant problems that had arisen under GATT dispute settlement experience. In spite of these important reforms, there are numerous, complex and contentious questions of legal adjudication that any formal dispute settlement system must face. The article outlines the aims and organs of dispute settlement under the WTO. It addresses some of the key questions as to standing, interpetation, evidence and adjudicatory practices and processes. While ongoing moitoring and reform is necessary, an important thesis is that the inherent nature of legal adjudication forces uncertain determinations that can too easily give rise to unwarranted criticism of the system as a whole.

EU-Mercosur trade relations: impacts of exchange rate misalignments on tariffs

The issue of “trade and exchange rate misalignments” is being discussed at the G20, IMF and WTO, following an initiative by Brazil. The main purpose of this paper is to apply the methodology developed by the authors to exam the impacts of misalignment on tariffs in order to analyse the impacts of misalignments on the trade relations between two customs unions – the EU and Mercosur, as well as to explain how tariff barriers are affected. It is divided into several sections: the first summarises the debate on exchange rates at the WTO; the second explains the methodology used to determine exchange rate misalignments; the third and fourth summarises the methodology applied to calculate the impacts of exchange rate misalignments on the level of tariff protection through an exercise of ‘misalignment tariffication’; the fifth reviews the effects of exchange rate misalignments on tariffs and its consequences for the trade negotiations between the two areas; and the last concludes and suggests a way to move the debate forward in the context of regional arrangements

North-South trade relations in the Americas: the case for free trade

Includes bibliography

Negotiating trade agreements for the 21st century

Includes Bibliography

Implementing trade policy in Latin America: the cases of Chile and Mexico

Includes bibliography

Trade, environment and development: implications for Caribbean countries

Includes bibliography

Incorporation of special and differential treatment in international trade agreements and the implications for Caribbean economies

Includes bibliography