Why is it so difficult? Trade liberalization under the Doha Agenda

Martín, Will; Messerlin, Patrick

doi:10.1093/icb/grm026

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…The issue has caught the attention of many scholars in recent years (cf. Baldwin (2006Baldwin ( , 2007, Baldwin, Evenett, and Low (2009), Baldwin and Thornton (2008), Bergsten (1997), Bhagwati (1991Bhagwati ( , 2004Bhagwati ( , 2008, Bhagwati et al (1998), Crump (2006Crump ( , 2007, Desker (2004), Garnaut and Vines (2007), Hoekman and Vines (2007), Hufbauer and Schott (2009), Kawai andWignaraja (2009), Lamy (2002), Low (2003), Martin and Messerlin (2007), Michalak and Gibb (1997), Sally (2007aSally ( , 2007b). …”

Section: Stepping-stones or Stumbling Blocks?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ambiguous Role of the WTO in Times of Stalled Multilateral Negotiations and Proliferating FTAs in East Asia

Lindberg

Alvstam

2012

Int Negot

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The world trading system is characterized by a growing number of free trade agreements (FTAs). Limited progress in the negotiations at the multilateral level within the WTO has contributed to this development, inducing countries to seek faster, alternative ways to speed up liberalization, which make it possible to take advantage of preferential treatment with key trading partners. This article discusses what role the WTO should take with regard to FTAs in times of stalled multilateral negotiations and proliferating FTAs, and how FTAs can contribute to the multilateralization of regionalism. When results at the multilateral level are scarce, there may be a shift towards other alternatives in which the WTO is left out. This may force the WTO to function reactively, simply facing facts as an organization, rather than proactively, where it may play some role in shaping the FTA development. FTAs are not an entirely separate phenomenon from the WTO, since countries that negotiate FTAs play two roles. They are members of the WTO and as such are part of the work and negotiations of the organization. They are also part of trade arrangements that are limited to a smaller number of countries, and hence can negotiate against the interest of the entire multilateral organization. This article explores how these agreements can facilitate the work and negotiations of the WTO to regionalize bilateralism and multilateralize regionalism, here named the "sticky rice" approach. Various East Asian trade arrangements are used as empirical examples.

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Section: Stepping-stones or Stumbling Blocks?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ambiguous Role of the WTO in Times of Stalled Multilateral Negotiations and Proliferating FTAs in East Asia

Lindberg

Alvstam

2012

Int Negot

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“…4 During the past two to three decades, 60% of trade liberalization has been through unilateral decisions made by national governments, with these decisions being (partly) consolidated later in the world trade regime (World Bank, 2005;Martin and Messerlin, 2007). Climate is a public good: countries unwilling to contribute to a climate policy can undermine the results of those making efforts.…”

Section: Common Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and trade policies: from mutual destruction to mutual support

Messerlin

2012

World Trade Review

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There is no doubt that trade and climate policies can be mutually destructive. But there are three strong reasons to suggest that they can also be mutually supportive: they have a common problem, common foes, and common friends. Mutual support would be much stronger if the world regimes for these two policies shared a few common principles. The climate community should feel at ease with the broad WTO principles of ‘national treatment’ and ‘most-favoured nation’, and rely on them in building its own treaty and institutions. The trade community should grasp the opportunity to benefit from the better disciplines on adjustment policies that it is hoped the climate community will design.These conclusions should put the many pending problems into a more positive perspective, and persuade negotiators to find pragmatic compromises, as was the case with the GATT. Using this perspective, the paper focuses on a few key issues, such as the definition of carbon border taxes and the reasons to ban carbon tariffs. Other cases of mutual support are examined. For instance, the climate community should not repeat the mistakes of the world trade regime in dealing with the developing and least developed countries.

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“…On the contrary : the primary deliverable of GATT/WTO trade rounds is policy bindings : a set of enforceable (and thus credible) commitments by governments that they will not raise protection/support for domestic industries above levels that they have often reduced unilaterally, and will not apply certain policies that are detrimental to trading partners. 3 As noted by Martin and Messerlin (2007), some two-thirds of tariff reductions between 1983 and 2003 were the result of unilateral decisions -what the GATT did was mostly to lock in these autonomous trade reforms.…”

Section: Doha : the Changing Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conclude Doha: it matters!

Hoekman¹,

Martín²,

Mattoo³

2010

World Trade Review

Self Cite

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The Doha Round must be concluded not because it will produce dramatic liberalization but because it will create greater security of market access. Its conclusion would strengthen, symbolically and substantively, the WTO's valuable role in restraining protectionism. What is on the table would constrain the scope for tariff protection in all goods, ban agricultural export subsidies in the industrial countries and sharply reduce the scope for distorting domestic support – by 70% in the EU and 60% in the US. Average farm tariffs that exporters face would fall to 12% (from 14.5%) and the tariffs on exports of manufactures to less than 2.5% (from about 3%). There are also environmental benefits to be captured, in particular disciplining the use of subsidies that encourage over-fishing and lowering tariffs on technologies that can help mitigate global warming. An agreement to facilitate trade by cutting red tape will further expand trade opportunities. Greater market access for the least-developed countries will result from the ‘duty free and quota free’ proposal and their ability to take advantage of new opportunities will be enhanced by the Doha-related ‘aid for trade’ initiative. Finally, concluding Doha would create space for multilateral cooperation on critical policy matters that lie outside the Doha Agenda, most urgently the trade policy implications of climate change mitigation.

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Why is it so difficult? Trade liberalization under the Doha Agenda

Cited by 22 publications

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The Ambiguous Role of the WTO in Times of Stalled Multilateral Negotiations and Proliferating FTAs in East Asia

The Ambiguous Role of the WTO in Times of Stalled Multilateral Negotiations and Proliferating FTAs in East Asia

Climate and trade policies: from mutual destruction to mutual support

Conclude Doha: it matters!

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