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Trade Barriers (trade + barrier)
Selected AbstractsKeiretsu and Relationship-Specific Investment: A Barrier To Trade?INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2001Barbara J. Spencer This article develops a model of informal procurement within Japanese keiretsu so as to consider effects on intermediate-good imports, such as auto parts. Parts-suppliers make relationship-specific investments that benefit the automaker and prices are determined by bargaining after investment has been sunk. Although this investment raises efficiency, it limits the range of imports to less important parts, such as tailpipes, and it is possible that no parts are imported, despite lower foreign costs. Lack of information concerning investment rents combined with counterintuitive responses of imports to changes in output and costs could create unwarranted perceptions of a trade barrier. [source] HIGH COTTON: WHY THE USA SHOULD NOT PROVIDE SUBSIDIES TO COTTON FARMERSECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2008Madeline Helling Trade theorists agree that barriers to trade are declining. Still more progress could be made if trade barriers and government interventions were eliminated. One area in which government interference can and should be vastly reduced is that of agricultural production in general and US cotton production in particular. [source] Tales from Two Deltas: Catfish Fillets, High-Value Foods, and GlobalizationECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2005Dominique M. Duval-Diop Abstract: This article examines two places of catfish production, the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam and the Mississippi River Delta of the United States, and uses the concept of globalization to illustrate how these distant places have been brought into competition and how this competition is mediated. Bringing these deltas together is a similar commitment to an economic development strategy that is based on catfish production, a desire to gain access to wealthy consumers who are willing to purchase this high-value food item, and processing and transportation technologies that allow this perishable product to be made more "durable" and to be shipped great distances. Mediating this relationship are consumers' preferences, product labeling, and the U.S. state. This case study illustrates the heterogeneous outcomes of globalization as these deltas are brought into a relationship that, in some ways, is closer than their absolute distance may indicate. The "backlash" forces, such as nontariff trade barriers, nationalism, and a still-powerful state (as both a regulator and consumer), characterize these globalizations. [source] European industry: the emerging market competitiveness challengeECONOMIC OUTLOOK, Issue 3 2006Article first published online: 24 AUG 200 As the global economy has become increasingly open to 'free' trade, European industry - and, indeed, industry across the developed world - has found itself faced with growing competition from low cost, emerging market countries. How is it facing up to this stiff challenge? Newspaper headlines may suggest that effort has been focused on raising trade barriers to keep competition at bay. However, such actions are a thin veneer over the very real, structural changes that are rapidly taking place. This article, by Grant Colquhoun, examines the changing structure of the EU15's trading patterns and the differential impact across manufacturing sectors. It then analyses the steps industry is taking to cope with the competitiveness challenge. As well as attempting to squeeze costs, it is clear that industry in Europe is restructuring in order to focus on higher value added activities, where it typically has a competitive advantage over emerging markets. [source] The alcohol industry and trade agreements: a preliminary assessmentADDICTION, Issue 2009Donald W. Zeigler ABSTRACT Aims To review trade agreements, their relation to alcohol control policy and examine the role of the alcohol industry in supporting and attempting to influence trade policy. Methods Review of peer review, public health advocacy literature (both pro and con on free trade), business, press and government documents on trade agreements, assess current and potential challenges by trade agreements to alcohol control policy and investigate the means and extent of industry influence in trade agreements. Findings ,Free' trade agreements reduce trade barriers, increase competition, lower prices and promote alcohol consumption. However, international treaties, negotiated by free trade experts in close consultation with corporate lobbyists and without significant, if any, public health input, governments and corporations contain significant provisions that will result in increased alcohol consumption and may challenge public health measures of other nations as constraints on trade. Conversely, alcohol control measures seek to reduce access and consumption, raise prices and restrict advertising and product promotion. The prospect is for increased alcohol consumption and concomitant problems throughout the world. Conclusions Trade agreements challenge effective alcohol control policies. The alcohol industry seeks to influence agreements and can be expected to work through trade agreements to reduce tariffs, increase market access and seek to restrict effective domestic regulations. Further research is needed on the impact of trade agreements and the ongoing role of the industry. Advocates must recognize the inherent conflicts between unbridled free trade and public health, work to exclude alcohol from trade agreements, counter industry influence and protect alcohol control policies. [source] Market Structure, Electoral Institutions, and Trade PolicyINTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Daniel Yuichi Kono The view that intra-industry trade is politically easier to liberalize than inter-industry trade is widely held and potentially explains key features of the global trading system. This view, however, rests on weak theoretical and empirical foundations. I argue that intra-industry trade can in fact lead to higher protection, but only where electoral institutions privilege narrow protectionist interests. I support this hypothesis with an analysis of trade barriers in 4,400 sectors in 65 countries and an analysis of lobbying in the US. My results imply that scholars should stop invoking intra-industry trade as an explanation for low trade barriers in wealthy countries and advanced manufacturing sectors. They also have important implications for the more general relationship between political institutions, collective action, and policy outcomes. [source] Recent international and regulatory decisions about geographical indicationsAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008Stephan Marette As worldwide consumer demand for high-quality products and for information about these products increases, labels and geographical indications (GIs) can serve to signal quality traits to consumers; however, GI systems among countries are not homogeneous and can be used as trade barriers against competition. Philosophical differences between the European Union (EU) and the United States about how GIs should be registered and protected led to the formation of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute-settlement panel. In this article, we discuss the issues behind the dispute, the WTO panel decision, and the EU response to the panel decision leading to the new Regulation 510/2006. Given the potential for GI labels to supply consumer information, context is provided for the discussion using recent literature on product labeling. Implications are drawn regarding the importance of the panel decision and the EU response relative to GI issues yet to be negotiated under the Doha Round. [JEL classifications: D8, F1, Q1]. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Overcoming informal trade barriers among Japanese intermediaries: An attitudinal assessmentAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005Kenneth C. Gehrt Access to foreign markets is increasingly critical to the U.S. as global competition increases. Past efforts by the U.S. to penetrate the Japanese market have often focused on overcoming formal trade barriers including tariffs, quotas, and product standards. Although this form of intervention has enjoyed success, limited effort has been devoted to analyzing informal trade barriers. This study examines informal trade barriers in terms of the attitudes of Japanese distributors toward U.S. products. The study focuses on a product-market for which Japan is the leading single-country importer for the U.S.: fruit. Recent inroads into the Japanese market by other countries have eroded the position of the U.S. This erosion will continue unless U.S. exporters can develop appropriate strategies based on sound market intelligence. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 21: 53,63, 2005. [source] Food regulation and trade under the WTO: ten years in perspectiveAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2007David Orden World Trade Organization; technical barriers; sanitary and phytosanitary regulations Abstract This article reviews the performance of the World Trade Organization in the oversight of national regulatory decisions affecting agricultural and food trade. A picture emerges of modest international disciplines on the regulatory decisions of sovereign nations and the need for ongoing improvements. A road map to regulations is presented and empirical assessments of the effects of technical regulation on trade are reviewed. Conflicts over sanitary and phytosanitary barriers raised in the relevant World Trade Organization committee are summarized and formal dispute settlement cases involving technical trade barriers are evaluated. Drawing on these reviews, suggestions are made for improving international food regulation. [source] Measurement and analysis of truck and rail shipping environment in IndiaPACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 6 2007S. P. Singh Abstract Free trade agreements have been on the rise in all regions of the world in the past decade. This has allowed for global distribution and marketing of products in an international market. Products once produced for domestic markets must now be able to compete in international markets without trade barriers. Increased international commerce and manufacturing have forced many packaging and logistics engineers to broaden their true understanding of the global distribution environment. India is a recent entrant on the global arena for manufacturing and services. While China's economic developments have dominated global headlines, India's own growth has been impressive as well, with a gross domestic product rising 5% per annum on average since 1990. India is hence primed to follow China as the next low-cost manufacturing super power. With an increasing interest from multinational corporations in conducting commerce with India, there arises a great need to understand the conditions of the transportation infrastructure there to promote logistical understanding of the distribution environments. This paper provides a brief overview of the road and rail transportation environment in India. It also provides the results of a 2 year study that measured and analysed truck and rail transport vibration for the major freight distribution routes between New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkatta. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Is a black market in telemedicine on the horizon?THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ROBOTICS AND COMPUTER ASSISTED SURGERY, Issue 4 2007Thomas R McLean Abstract Background Regulation of a global market by regional licensure systems and trade barriers has significant drawbacks. Methods Literature review of telemedicine, law and economics. Results Today's patients are willing to use out-of-pocket dollars to purchase medical care from: (a) foreign physicians in the medical tourism market; and (b) nurse-practitioners in pharmacy clinics. As telemedicine comes of age, patients are likely to purchase more health care from foreign telemedical ,pharmacy' clinics to avoid the costs, and the hassle, of travel. Many of these foreign medicine providers are likely to be unlicensed. This is problematic because experience with Mydoc.com and Usanetrx.com demonstrates that today's patients are relatively unconcerned with the licensure status of telemedicine providers. Accordingly, the elements of a black market in telemedicine may be on the horizon. Strengthening medical licensure laws is unlikely to keep foreign providers out the US health care market forever. Alternatively, one method to minimize the size of a black market in telemedical services would be to allow the market to regulate itself through the creation of a commodities-type exchange. Conclusion Now is the time to open a global dialogue on how to regulate telemedicine. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Estimation of trade elasticities in the presence of trade barriers, multinationals and imperfect competitionAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2009Fredoun Z. Ahmadi-Esfahani Recent research highlights the role that multinational trading companies may play in impeding price transmission. In markets characterised by imperfect competition, an estimate of the partial elasticity of demand may be of limited practical value if no account is taken of the reaction of competitors. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential for market structure to affect price transmission and trade elasticities, and challenge the presumption that only government intervention can impact upon price transmission, with examples supporting why theory would suggest otherwise. [source] Trade Liberalisation and the Australian Labor PartyAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 4 2002Andrew Leigh The three most substantial decisions to reduce Australia's trade barriers , in 1973, 1988 and 1991 , were made by Labor Governments. Labor's policy shift preceded the conversion of social democratic parties in other countries to trade liberalisation. To understand why this was so, it is necessary to consider trade policy as being shaped by more than interest groups and political institutions. Drawing on interviews with the main political figures, including Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and John Button, this article explores why the intellectual arguments for free trade had such a powerful impact on Labor's leadership, and how those leaders managed to implement major tariff cuts, while largely maintaining party unity. [source] Biofuels, trade and sustainability: a review of perspectives for developing countriesBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 1 2010Peter Oosterveer Abstract Recent growth in demand for biofuels is resulting in rapid increases in their production and trade. Although this may offer interesting export opportunities for tropical countries who can produce biomass more efficiently, whether this effectively leads to growing exports depends to a large extent on the conditionalities that prevail on the major biofuel markets. Market protection by developed countries, concerns about the environmental impact of producing biofuels, and demands for securing food production are all conditions preventing the world biofuels market from being a level playing field. These conditions for international trade are not yet fixed, however, and various stakeholders struggle with the desired arrangement. This review provides an overview of the state-of-the-art biofuels trade, with special emphasis on issues of access, trade barriers and sustainability relevant for developing countries. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] What is New in Protectionism?CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2010Captives, Consumers, Cranks The most contentious international trade issues currently arise not from traditional producer requests for protection, but as a result of consumers and other economic agents asking governments to erect trade barriers. The economic model that underpins multilateral trade policy,as manifest in World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements,only predicts that firms will lobby for protection, with no provisions for how governments faced with requests for protection from other groups can respond. Consequently, governments have been forced to defend the imposition of trade barriers using spurious justifications; the WTO dispute mechanism has largely dismissed these justifications, and consumers (and others) feel disenfranchised. The result has been a loss of credibility for the WTO and sometimes its demonization. The WTO needs to change but a new economic model must also be developed to deal with a broader spectrum of protectionist interests. À l'heure actuelle, les questions de commerce international les plus litigieuses ne sont pas alimentées par des producteurs traditionnels qui demandent des mesures protectionnistes, mais plutôt par des consommateurs et d'autres agents économiques qui demandent que les États érigent des barrières commerciales. Le modèle économique à la base de la politique commerciale multilatérale , manifeste dans les accords de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) , prévoit seulement que les entreprises exerceront des pressions protectionnistes, sans disposition sur la réaction possible des États qui sont confrontés à des demandes de protectionnisme provenant d'autres groupes. En conséquence, les États ont été forcés de défendre l'imposition de barrières commerciales en utilisant de fausses justifications. Le mécanisme de règlement des différends de l'OMC a en grande partie rejeté ces justifications, et les consommateurs (et autres agents économiques) se sentent privés de leurs droits. L'OMC a ainsi perdu de sa crédibilité et est parfois diabolisée. L'OMC doit être revue, mais il faut également élaborer un nouveau modèle économique pour tenir compte d'un large éventail d'intérêts protectionnistes. [source] The Chinese Enigma: Impacts of WTO Accession Upon Canadian and U.S. Exports and ImportsCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2000Xiao-Yuan Dong China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is an important milestone in the integration of this nation into the world economy. Substantial reduction in trade barriers by China, one of the world's largest and most rapidly growing economies, is expected to have a significant impact, both on China itself and on the global economy. In assessing likely impacts on trade between China and North America of China joining the WTO, a priori one might expect new opportunities for China in labor intensive activities/products, while for the United States and for Canada one might expect added export market opportunities, as China grows, in activities/products that require land, resources and capital. However, the extent to which China and its trading partners will benefit from China's increasing integration into the global economy will largely depend on the internal changes in policy and infrastructure that may be adopted by China. China has embarked on a process of economic reform, but the speed and extent to which this continues to be pursued will affect this nation's ability to capitalize on its comparative advantages and to meet new challenges that are associated with the opportunities of access to a larger market. The difficulty of forecasting such internal changes means that China continues to be a major source of uncertainty in projecting world markets and trade flows. This uncertainty is particularly evident for trade in agricultural products [source] Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area: A Dilemma for ChinaCHINA AND WORLD ECONOMY, Issue 5 2007Bin Sheng F53; F59; O53 Abstract The Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area (FTAAP) has become a topic of focus since the proposal was first raised in 2004. The present paper considers China's policy towards the FTAAP from a political economy perspective by probing the gains, impediments and concerns for China, and makes judgments based on several possible scenarios. The author argues that from an economic perspective, China would benefit from joining the FTAAP both in a static and a dynamic manner because both its main trade partners and trade barriers in export markets are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region. However, whether the Chinese Government is likely to support the initiative is largely dependent on certain crucial political and diplomatic elements, including the APEC approach, US-Chinese relations, quality of treaty, sensitive sectors, competitive proposal of alternative and membership of Chinese Taipei. Therefore, if the Chinese Government cannot ratify the ideology and terms of the initiative, or issues that are central to China's interests are not addressed, the FTAAP will only remain a proposal possessing economic possibility in the long run, without political feasibility in the near term. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||