Doha Round Still Unresolved
On Wednesday, 153 nations met to discuss the Doha Round, but left with little to no progress, states the Wall Street Journal. The Doha Round plan was created with a mission of opening rich-country markets to import food from the developing world. After eight years, little development has been made. Furthermore, issues such as the drop in trade and the hot topic of protectionism has reduced the enthusiasm to create a plan that everyone agrees with.
What is on the table doesn’t deliver “meaningful market access in the part of the world that will be growing and driving GDP growth over the next few years,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said, in a reference to countries like China, India and Brazil.
Not all countries are statisified with what is on the table so far. Some believe that the wealther countries will still profit more than the developing countries.
But, as Mr. Kirk puts it best:
The Doha Round “is like a cricket match. You don’t know the score and it takes a long time, but it does end, and there is a winner.”
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Who Are the Biggest Trade Complainers?
The Economist received published an article with statistics about which country files the most complaints to the World Trade Organization(WTO)…and who receives the most trade complaints. Here’s what they found.
The United States and the European Community(a.k.a. European Union) are number one and number two for both filing the most complaints and receiving the most complaints. Rounding out the top five for the World Trade Organization members, who file the most compliants are:
5. Mexico
4. Brazil
3. Canada
2. European Community
1. United States
Thoses members, who are subject to the most trade complaints are:
5. Argentina
4. China
3. India
2. European Community
1. United States
Many of these disputes vary such as export curbs to the latest import ban of seal products from Canada. According to the article, more of the wealther nations tend to file complaints to the WTO dispute settlement body compared to other members.
To view the full lists, click here.
Obama and Hu Jintao to Talk Trade Among Topics to Discuss
President Obama landed in China on Sunday to discuss some much needed topics with President Hu Jintao, according to Time magazine. One topic is trade. In recent months, trade issues has been heated between the two nations as both have thrown around the idea that each nation is participating in protectionism since the recession began.
“They’re working through a lot of scattered issues, but they are working through the WTO,” says James McGregor, the former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. “In the old days, every trade issue would become a very public and unstructured argument.”
China and the U.S. trade around $400 billion in goods each year. Many trade experts were concerned tension may get too high, making resolution difficult. But, U.S. officials dismiss that allegation, saying that the affected goods are only a small part of the total trade exchange.
Wanna read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1939536,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Canadians Going Hog Wild Over Protectionism
Canada asks the World Trade Organization (WTO) to rule against an American food-labeling law that seems to have destroyed much of its hog-farming industry, states the New York Times. The dispute derives from an American rule requiring that food products be labeled by country of origin. The U.S. government denies that labeling its food products is an act of protectionism, although Americans have decreased purchases of pork produced in Canada, traditionally about 7 percent of Canadian pork is consumed in the United States.
The Canadian international trade minister, Stockwell Day, publicly criticized the rules “as so onerous that they affect the ability of our cattle and hog exporters to compete fairly in the United States.” He said Canada “has no choice” but to request that the World Trade Organization scrutinize the labeling rules.
The U.S. trade representative defended the allegations and its claim that the Obama administration is practicing protectionism by stating that the information on the labels given to consumers complies with the WTO.
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“To Join or Not to Join,” That is the Question For Russia
Joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of Russia’s top priority reports The Telegraph in the U.K.
There are two important reasons that Russia and the WTO members has it’s eye on joining: the global economic crisis, and the creation of a Customs Union involving Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus – who would all like to enter as world trade members simultaneously.
This year all speeches by Russian leaders at several international forums send a clear message to the economic world that Russia is ready to participate in creating a global governance system. This means that Russia has no choice but to join the WTO.
But, Russia needs to modernize its economy, a need that became apparent with the onset of the crisis. As oil and gas prices dropped, the top two exports in Russia, the need to diversify is even more clear.
If Russia stays out of the WTO, Russian producers and exporters will face increasing difficulties in international markets. WTO membership will provide an opportunity to enter new markets, offering the potential for significant increases in export revenues.
Time will tell if and when Russia will decide to finally enter the WTO as a member or if it will continue to live outside the trading box, so to say.
To read more, click here.
Green Light Given for Global Trade Green Pact
The European Union and the United States are in talks on forging a pact with OECD countries and China, if agreed, a global pact will be created to phase out import tariffs on goods such as wind turbines, renewables and green technologies.
“The talks are entering an advanced stage. Brussels and Washington hope this could be one of the incentives needed to get China on board in the lead up to the Copenhagen climate change talks,” one EU diplomat.
Several U.S. companies are urging the Obama adminstration to find alternatives routes to help boost global trade in environmental goods and services.
It’s a chance to jump-start U.S. trade policy and aid global climate negotiations at the same time,” said Jake Colvin, vice president for global trade policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, a U.S. business group.
Not only to boost global trade, but helping the environment is one of the major factors intented for this tax pact. The United States and the European Union has put a lot of pressure on China to lower it’s emissions, but in return China wants money to help harness new greener technologies for its economy.
Further discussions will take place at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
For more information, click here.
*all information sourced from a recent Reuter article.
China and the U.S. Continue To Battle Out Its Trade Differences
The Wall Street Journal reports that China has appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over its August ruling on entertainment imports, such as Hollywood dvd releases and downloadable music from Apple, Inc. Reports claim that their attempt reflects the recent trade tensions between the U.S. and China because of the increased tire tariffs and chicken import investigation.
China appeals to WTO on grounds of ‘public moral’ stating that it must protect its citizens from Westerized media.
“…China must now prove its trade restrictions are necessary to protect public morals,” says Brendan McGivern, a Geneva-based trade lawyer for White & Case LLP. “It will be a difficult argument to make.”
The WTO’s August ruling required Beijing must stop forcing U.S. artists and production companies to go through state-controlled distributors.
To read the full article, click here.
Aid for Trade
Although it’s debated on whether the world economy is actually growing again or if we are still in a recession, but one thing is clear, countries are still in need of aid in its trade.
“Aid for Trade” is a World Trade Organization program that was launced four years ago in Hong Kong. The idea behind this program is to ”give developing countries the tools to improve their position as trade partners and both their own development and the international trade situation will also improve.”
‘Developing countries very often face trade barriers, which either stem from their own infrastructure – for example roadways, transport or energy – or they face technical trade barriers, for example if someone wants to export flowers to the US or to Europe he will have to meet the maximum pesticide residue standard,’ says Pascal Lamy,WTO director general.
Aid for Trade helps to integrate developing countries into the global economy and ensure that they can take advantage of trade opening and gain access to markets for its exports of goods and services.
One key component of this is the creation of infrastructure, to ensure the consistent and reliable flow of goods, services and information that underpin global trade. Another is to ensure that manufacturers are trained in meeting global product quality and safety standards demanded by consumers.
To read the full article by International Trade, click here.
Global Trade to Drop 9% in 2009
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the World Trade Organization’s head, Pascal Lamy said he saw no improvement in global trade in 2009 compared to 2008, and confirmed his forcasted drop of 9 percent in international trade by volume.
With governements pouring money into failing industries, such as the automotive, he hasn’t seen a disruption global trade as of yet.
“Everyone has subsidized their auto sector. From our point of view, which is to make sure that global trade isn’t hampered, no state has acquired for itself an unfair advantage because of these subsidies,” Lamy said.
What Lamy is most concerned about with the drop in global trade is for the developing countries that have been most affected by this decrease. He stressed this point at the last G20 summit in London. WTO needs more initiatives aimed at supporting trade finance, so that global trade remains open to developing countries, who rely on it for economic support.
There is no forecast for global trade in 2010.
To read more about this article, click here.