Regional Integration And Global Free Trade

Discusses questions surrounding the relationship between regional integration agreements and the global trading system. It has been revised following a conference at the GATT and forms part of the background material for a study in the GATT Secretariat's annual report, "International Trade".

Recent trade initiatives suggest that there is renewed interest in forming tariff-free regional trading zones. Running concurrent with this move toward regional integration is the multilateral process of global trade liberalization. This text looks at the two issues. Chapter one examines the inherent conflict between the two main approaches to reducing barriers to trade - economic integration, and multilateralism. Chapter two provides a theoretical framework for evaluating the relative accomplishments of both regional trading blocs and multilateral free trade. Chapter three utilizes a number of theoretical constructs to evaluate the effects of regional trading arrangements, and discusses the trade history of the European Union. Chapter four provides an analysis of the trade effects of tariff reductions achieved under the GATT system, and chapter five provides recommendations for ensuring continued progress in multilateral tariff reductions under the banner of the World Trade Organization.

This comprehensive book addresses one of the most important aspects of international trade, namely, regional trade and regional integration agreements (RIAs). The focus of intense global interest and debate over the last decade, RIAs have become an integr

This text examines regionalism from the perspective of developing countries. It presents a comprehensive account of existing theory and empirical results and incorporates the findings of formal analyses ofthe politics and dynamics of regionalism.

This volume considers the implications of revived interest in regional integration for the world trading system.

This title was first published in 2000: This work examines the hemispheric diplomacy after the Summits of the America in Miami (December 1994) and Santiago (April 1998), focusing on the strengthening of the South American position in the FTAA negotiations and the Brazilian proposal for a South American Free Trade Area (SAFTA). The book also looks at the implications of the preceding analysis for regional integration theory and international relations theory. The conclusion looks beyond "open regionalism" and considers three scenarios for US-South American relations after the Santiago Summit. First reassertion of US hegemony and signing of an FTAA agreement on schedule, second, erosion of US hegemony but continuing negotiations between North and South America for a "distant" FTAA, and finally, breakdown of the FTAA negotations and emergence of SAFTA as an alternative to the FTAA.

This book examines the past, present and prospects of regional economic integration in Africa. The empirical analysis ranges from unions formed during the years following independence, to the proposed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to remove trade barriers between all 55 African states. In addition, the book explores to what extent Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have advanced in accordance with a linear integration model of goods, labor and capital markets. The book subsequently evaluates the suitability of the European model of deep integration with costly institutions for the conditions specific to Africa, considering, for example, the role of informal and non-recorded trade. Stylized cases of regional division of labour with increasing returns and imperfect competition are introduced to support the economic integration logic. Past and current economic policies in Africa are scrutinized to answer the question: how can African regions best foster new manufacturing industries and value chains across the continent? In conclusion, the book outlines content and processes of Common Industrial Policy in the African regions. The book also addresses the controversial issue of international trade agreements between developing countries and the European Union or the USA and investigates whether these agreements impede or promote economic development in Africa. The book includes a detailed roadmap describing how to improve key clauses of agreements for economic partnership in the interest of African countries. In closing, it outlines a new vision of joint sustainable development for Africa and Europe.

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 1.7, South Bank University London, course: International Business Economics, language: English, abstract: Over the last twenty years, economic integration has become a keyword in the world economy. The world has witnessed a notable increase in economic cooperation and interdependence between nations. Different economies came together and reduced or eliminated trade barriers to the flow of goods, services, labour and capital (Piggott, 2006, p. 89).