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This study evaluates the economic implications of China's potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model. Results reveal that CPTPP membership would generally boost import-export growth rates across most industries, with significant benefits for agriculture, textiles, papermaking, and minerals, whereas extraction, petrochemicals, automotive, steel, machinery, and electronics sectors gain less. The CPTPP induces trade diversion, enhancing China's GDP and social welfare under normal conditions, but such gains diminish under trade sanctions. While joining the CPTPP improves trade terms and expands surplus in standard scenarios, sanctions could reverse these outcomes. Consequently, China should pursue CPTPP integration while proactively addressing sanctions risks to minimize adverse effects.

International market selection involves multiple decision-making factors, whose understanding is crucial for business success in the era of globalization. In this sense, the aim of this study is to assess the relevance of some international market selection criteria from a comparative academic perspective between Colombian and Ecuadorian professors, building upon previous research on international market selection criteria. Similarly, a quantitative method was used in this research; in this case the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to 30 international business expert professors from Colombia and Ecuador. The analysis considered five general factors (Costs, Logistics, Trade Barriers, Economics, and Cultural Environment) and 23 specific sub-factors, evaluated through paired comparisons using a 1–9 scale. A geometric mean was employed to consolidate expert judgments. This research shows Colombian professors prioritized Logistics (0.2377) and Trade Barriers (0.2226), while Ecuadorian professors emphasized Trade Barriers (0.2369) and Logistics (0.2200). Country risk was identified as the most relevant sub-factor by both groups, with weights of 0.1045 and 0.0849 respectively. Cultural Environment and Costs received the lowest ratings in both countries. Therefore, the study reveals significant similarities in academic perceptions between both countries, prioritizing aspects related to medium and long-term business risks over traditionally considered factors such as costs, contributing to the existing literature on international market selection criteria assessment.

This paper analyzes the political economy factors and actors that may have influenced trade instruments in Peru during the liberalization period of 2001-2015 (which started in 1990 under Fujimori’s administration). The evidence supports the hypothesis that Peruvian trade barriers liberalization in period 2000-2015 was led by the powerful “Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF)”, accompanied by traditional and diversified exporters (that consolidated the unilateral trade liberalization) and by import substitution firms that influenced to some degree, and slowed down the rate of liberalization of unilateral trade barriers. In addition, the unilateral trade liberalization was facilitated by the weak role of the formal labor force and liberal-oriented consumer interest groups.

Technical standards are increasingly determining the development, production, trade in and marketing of goods and services. In order to ensure that technical regulations and product standards which vary from country to country do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade was adopted during the Uruguay Round. It is paralleled by the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures which sets out the basic rules on how governments can apply food safety as well as animal and plant health measures without, however, using them as an excuse for protecting domestic producers. Prominent decisions under the WTO Dispute Settlement have interpreted those provisions. This volume gives a detailed account of the necessary parameters for technical standards and measures seeking to protect health and environment. Included are commentaries on Articles III, XI and XX of GATT 1994 which are equally relevant in this context. The article by article commentaries draw from a considerable body of case law, the work by the TBT and SPS Committee and the relevant legal literature. Attention is given to substantive requirements as well as the necessary standard setting procedures. Apart from a thorough analysis of the relevant and most recent jurisprudence including the Biotech Panel Report the commentary seeks to give answers to newly emerging issues, such as special needs of developing countries. It is an indispensable tool for practitioners and academics working in this field of WTO law.

Two novel datasets are used to estimate the effect of product standards on firms’ export decisions. The first covers all exporting firms in 42 developing countries. The second covers pesticide standards for 243 agricultural and food products in 80 importing countries over 2006–2012. The analysis shows that product standards affect significantly foreign market access. An increase in the stringency of standards in the destination country, relative to the exporting country, lowers firms’ probability of exporting, deters exporters from entering new markets, and fosters exit from existing markets. Smaller exporters are more affected in their market entry and exit decisions by the relative stringency of destination standards than larger exporters. Networks of other exporters from the same country can help overcome the negative effects of the relative stringency of destination standards on exporter entry and exit.

This book examines the international regulation of crisis bailouts and buy national policies from a competition perspective. It undertakes this research with specific reference to the crisis years 2008–2012. The book includes a comparative analysis of the regulation of public procurement and subsidies aid at both multilateral and regional levels, identifying the strengths and weakness in the WTO legal framework and selected regional trade agreements (RTAs). Ultimately, the aim of this work is to provide options for improving the consistency of these laws and the regulation of these markets. This is of immediate relevance for good economic governance, as well as for managing future systemic financial crises in the interests of citizens: as tax payers and consumers. Volume 17 in the series Hart Studies in Competition Law

The paper contributes to the discussion about the revenue implications of trade reform by assessing the approximate fiscal revenue impact of different liberalization formulae under consideration in multilateral trade negotiations for a group of low- and middle-income countries. The study applies a linear optimization framework to data for bound tariffs, applied tariffs, and imports at the HS-6 digit level for 58 developing countries, and simulates results for different sets of import demand elasticities and developing country \"flexibilities.\" While only a small number of countries face a significant impact, results point toward the need for complementary fiscal measures in the countries most affected by revenue loss.

A key obstacle to fundamental tariff reform in many developing countries is the revenue loss that it ultimately implies. This paper establishes a simple and practicable strategy for realizing the efficiency gains from tariff reform without reducing public revenues, showing that for a small open economy, a cut in tariffs combined with a point-for-point increase in domestic consumption taxes increases both welfare and public revenues. Increasingly stringent conditions are required, however, to ensure unambiguously beneficial outcomes from this reform strategy when allowance is made for such important features as nontradeable goods, intermediate inputs, and imperfect competition.

Ukraine's Trade Policy identifies the key drivers of Ukraine's recent trade performance, assesses current trade policies, and proposes recommendations to strengthen the Ukraine’s trade integration strategy. It also identifies core bottlenecks in the ongoing integration processes, including global and regional integration. The study concludes that the main obstacles to furthering Ukraine’s trade integration are domestic, and relate to deficiencies in the business environment. Problems in customs administration, standardization, and administrative barriers for new entry require immediate attention. The report highlights specific policy issues that hamper WTO accession, such as trade legislation, protection of intellectual property rights, government support for specific industries, and export restrictions. It also recommends improvements in the structure of Ukraine’s import tariffs, reform of both the regime of free economic zones and mechanism of VAT refund, and investment in a major upgrade of government capacity for investment and export promotion. The report also draws attention to the importance of the post-WTO accession agenda for Ukraine. To take advantage of WTO membership, the Government will need to undertake significant institutional reforms to implement WTO regulatory rules in ways that facilitate integration into the world economy and provide benefits to private sector participants.

This paper analyzes the evolution of the incidence and intensity of non-tariff measures (NTMs). It extends earlier work by measuring protection from NTMs over time from a newly available database and provides evidence on the evolution of NTMs. In particular, building on Kee et al. (Econ J 119(534): 172-199, 2009), this paper estimates the ad valorem equivalents of NTMs for 97 countries at the product level over the period 1997-2015. We show that the incidence and the intensity of NTMs were both increasing over this period, with NTMs becoming an even more dominant source of trade protection. We are also able to investigate the evolution of overall protection derived jointly from tariffs and NTMs. The results show that the overall protection level, for most countries and products, has not decreased despite the fall in tariffs associated with multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements in recent decades. We also document an increase in overall trade protection during the recent 2008 financial crisis. Overall, this study sheds light on an underresearched aspect of trade liberalization: the proliferation and increase of NTMs.