Multilateralizing Regionalism

A collection of revised papers from the 'Multilateralizing Regionalism' conference, held at the WTO in September 2007.

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated around the world in the past two decades, and now nearly all members of the WTO are party to at least one. Besides tariffs and rules of origin regulating trade in goods, many RTAs now include provisions on services, investments, technical barriers to trade and competition rules, as well as a host of issues not directly related to trade. The geographic reach of RTAs is expanding, with transcontinental agreements spreading forcefully alongside intra-regional agreements. 'Multilateralizing Regionalism' was the title of a major conference held from 10-12 September 2007 at the WTO in Geneva. Brought together in this publication, the conference papers achieve two things. First, they marshall detailed, new empirical work on the nature of the 'Spaghetti Bowl' and the problems it poses for the multilateral trade system. Second, they contribute fresh and creative thinking on how to 'tame the tangle' of regional trade agreements.

A collection of revised papers from the 'Multilateralizing Regionalism' conference, held at the WTO in September 2007.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - Micro-economics, grade: 2,0, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre), course: Economics of European Integration, language: English, abstract: In chapter two we saw three main effects of trade liberalization: Juggernaut, domino and race to the bottom. The multilateral Juggernaut effect uses the principle of reciprocity to explain that a final tariff of zero is possible when all goods are traded and negotiation is held long enough. Domino effects on a regional base occur, when countries find it political optimal to lower the tariffs which they earlier found to be protect worthy. An early participation in the RTA prohibits from losing connection in inter-national manufacturing diversion. Domino hereby means that outsider want to join, when other countries previously joined. This leads to the basic assumption: Be the first and be the biggest company to gain cost advantages. Smaller companies will exit through import com-petitors. Unilateral race to the bottom tariff cutting is relevant to Asia and is motivated by the wish to participate from out sourced workload of devel-oped countries...

"This book is based on a 10-13 September 2007 conference in Geneva that was jointly organized by the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, and the WTO Secretariat with the help of CEPR."--Acknowledgements.

It is an appropriate time to rethink the relationship between trade regionalism and multilateralism in the Asian context as we witness the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia. In the 1980s and 1990s, many scholars and policymakers believed that Asian integration was market-based, rather than legal-based, and that Asian integration would never be codified through agreements. Yet today, there are a large number of FTAs signed and under negotiation in Asia. This book investigates the appropriate relationship between regionalism and multilateralism, with a special reference to recent FTAs in Asia. It is undeniable that past trade multilateralism–regionalism debates centered on the trade-in-goods aspect. However, the majority of recent FTAs in Asia cover issues beyond trade-in-goods and tariff liberalization, such as trade facilitation, services, and economic cooperation. While the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV governs regional integration initiatives in trade in goods, there is no (or at most a thin) World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement that stipulates the relationship between regionalism and multilateralism in issue areas other than goods. Thus, this study carefully considers the meaning of “WTO-compatible FTAs” by distinguishing “WTO consistency” and “WTO friendliness”, going beyond GATT Article XXIV debates and proposes a general framework for examining the openness of regionalism in various issue areas by identifying tree-type questions to distinguish several types of exclusiveness. It then specifically asks the following questions: Can Asian FTAs that cover several issues be considered multilateralism friendly? How does the relationship between regionalism and multilateralism differ between trade-in-goods and non-goods issue areas? What are policies that might reduce the exclusiveness of regional initiatives? The study concludes by listing counterintuitive policy suggestions to make FTAs truly WTO compatible. The book also includes a comprehensive list of FTAs in Asia and several WTO Agreements relating to trade regionalism. Contents:Introduction: Conceptualizing the WTO Compatibility of FTAsAnalytical Framework for WTO Friendliness of FTAs: How to Check If They are Real “Friends” of WTO?Free Trade Agreements in Goods: Is Trade Bilateralism in Asia Consistent with WTO Rules and Norms?Regional Approaches to Trade Facilitation: Are Regional Trade Facilitation Measures Discriminatory Against Non-Members?Regional Services Agreements: What is the Value of GATS-Plus Regional Services Commitments?Economic Cooperation Under FTAs: Do FTAs Impose WTO-Plus Technical Assistance Obligations on Members?Conclusion: Counter-Intuitive Policy Implications for WTO-Compatible FTAs Readership: Researchers, professionals, undergraduate and graduate students interested in Free Trade Agreements, World Trade Organization, Regionalism, Trade in Services and Trade Facilitation. Keywords:Free Trade Agreement (FTA);World Trade Organization (WTO);Regionalism;Trade in Services;Trade FacilitationKey Features:Chapters first present the methodology relevant to analyze FTA's WTO compatibility in a particular area and then present case studies of Asian FTAs to examine their WTO compatibility, which is followed by the policy discussions on how to make FTAs more WTO-friendlyThe book is interdisciplinary covering economics, political science and international economic lawAuthored by ADB Economist specializing in FTA issues, the book provides readers with theoretically sound and empirically rich discussion on FTAs. The author knows both theory and practice of FTAs and WTO (served as negotiator at the Japanese Mission to the WTO; involved in the regional economic integration issues at the Office of Regional Economic Integration at ADB)Reviews: “Shintaro Hamanaka has written an interesting and important book on Asian Free Trade Agreements and WTO Compatibility. The first major contribution is to distinguish between the narrowly legal concept of WTO-consistency and the broader concept of WTO-friendliness. That distinction underpins the book's analysis, in which Hamanaka identifies examples of agreements that are WTO-consistent but not in the spirit of the WTO or likely to promote future multilateralism; as he points out, non-violation of rules is not the same as harmony. The book's second major contribution is in-depth analysis of 21st. Century trade agreements in Asia, covered in four substantive chapters on trade in goods, trade facilitation, services agreements, and economic cooperation. The author's detailed knowledge of more than a hundred agreements is used to support analysis in which the big picture is kept impressively in focus.” Prof. Richard Pomfret University of Adelaide

'Dent and Dosch have put together a superb volume that explores new dimensions of the world events for the past five decades and take decrypting the processes of regionalism, global system, and world society to a new height. The contributors have enhanced our understanding of how regionalism has been changing, when a world society will be created, and why East Asia's centrality matters in this unfolding drama. Policymakers, academics, and mass media opinion makers will find the book useful, provocative, and refreshing.' – Eul-Soo Pang, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore Ever since the Asia-Pacific transformed from an 'institutional desert' into one of the most networked areas in the world, questions of the region's future and the future of the global system have become closely intertwined. This volume explores the key issues of regional co-operation, economic and political integration, security relations and international affairs within and across the Asia-Pacific. The expert contributors shed critical light on how significant developments are impacting on the global system. In particular, they consider emerging forms of global governance, and how the Asia-Pacific as a region, individual countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and the US, and regional organisations and forums like APEC are shaping the world. Uniquely, the discussion is not limited to East Asia but also takes Latin America prominently into the equation. This timely book will prove to be a stimulating read for academics, students, researchers and policymakers with an interest in Asian studies, development and agriculture, economics, international studies.

For a long time, the GATT led a life of its own as a self-contained regime. The evolution from tariff to non-tariff barriers brought about increasing overlaps with other regulatory areas. WTO rules increasingly interface with other areas of law and policy, including environmental protection, agricultural policies, labour standards, investment, human rights and regional integration. Against this backdrop, this book examines fragmentation in international trade regulation across a wide array of regulatory fields. To this end, it uses a conceptually coherent theoretical framework which is based on the effort to bring about greater coherence among different policy goals and fields, and thus to embed the multilateral trading system within the broader framework of international economics, law and relations. It will appeal to those interested in a forward-looking discussion of the most pressing issues of the international trade agenda.