Keen competition in East-West trade

Parallel to the economic growth and the increase of the living standards in the Eastern bloc the import requirements of its member countries are rising, too. For this reason all Western industrial nations make increasing efforts to establish themselves in these markets with good future prospects or to maintain and extend traditional positions. However, trade between the East and the West is more difficult than among Western industrial States. The differing control of the economies causes a multitude of difficulties in opening new business connections and for transactions. These impediments are still increased by differing conceptions of the world. INTERECONOMICS interviewed Herr Alfree E. Schulz, Member of the Board of Directors of DEMAG Aktiengesellschaft, on the present situation of the West Germon Eastern trade.     

What is “Normal” East-West trade?

The reduction of grain shipments and the export ban for computers imposed by the US Administration in response to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was supplemented, late in February 1980, by prohibition of deliveries of phosphates to the Soviet Union. President Carter has not yet urged the western industrialized states to participate in economic sanctions against the USSR, but a comprehensive embargo is still under discussion. In this connection it is not only the expediency of an embargo against the Soviet Union which is at issue, but the question how the East-West trade is to be conducted and what is, in the long run, to be regarded as normal in this field.     

Bilateralism, multilateralism, and the quest for global free trade

We develop an equilibrium theory of trade agreements in which both the degree and the nature (bilateral or multilateral) of trade liberalization are endogenously determined. To determine whether and how bilateralism matters, we also analyze a scenario where countries pursue trade liberalization on only a multilateral basis. We find that when countries have asymmetric endowments or when governments value producer interests more than tariff revenue and consumer surplus, there exist circumstances where global free trade is a stable equilibrium only if countries are free to pursue bilateral trade agreements. By contrast, under symmetry, both bilateralism and multilateralism yield global free trade.     

New Bilateralism in the Asia–Pacific

This paper reviews recent changes in the geographic pattern of regional trading agreements (RTAs), focusing on examples from the Asia–Pacific area. The general pattern is one of new bilateral agreements combined with a trend towards continentalism. The new trend towards bilateralism can be explained largely by a fear of countries being excluded from their major markets as other countries secure preferential and superior access to these markets. This pattern is creating many intersections between RTAs with consequential multi–tiered preferences and multiple systems of trade rules. Viewed dynamically, however, this pattern may have positive effects on world trade. It mitigates the effects of large continental RTAs and may lead to coalescence or enlargement of RTAs. The paper reviews models which ask the important question as to whether this process will progress all the way to free trade for the world economy.     

East-West economic cooperation

Beyond the existing forms of East-West cooperation in Europe such as economic assistance, loans, joint ventures and association agreements, both sides are looking for suitable ways of establishing more institutionalized relations. Already existing institutions, membership of which could be offered to the new market economies, are EFTA, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the EU. This article discusses the effects of membership for both eastern and western countries in the light of their differing interests.     

East-West Trading Relationships:

The professional buyer in the USA may be influenced in his selection of products from a developing country by his perception of its state of political freedom. In addition to the standard economic issues such as price and quality, political freedom and other environmental conditions may play a minor but still significant part in buyer decision-making. This study examines the impact of political freedom in the exporting country on the willingness to buy of the professional buyer in the United States. By itself, political freedom is not a deciciding factor in whether or not to buy, but combined with other adverse environmental conditions it may very well be an important determinant in the professional buying decision.     

East-West Joint Ventures in the Soviet Union:

Last two decades of the East European experience prove the enclave model of East-West joint ventures not viable. The promising integrative model presupposes much better structural conditions in the economy. Until at least 1995, structural determinants of the Soviet-based joint ventures will largely reduce them to enclaves; therefore the joint venture expansion in the USSR will be constrained.     

亚太新双边主义兴起的原因研究——一个政治经济学的分析视角

亚太地区双边贸易协定的兴起与演进形成当代亚太区域经济合作发展的新阶段,其意义和影响日益受到国际社会的普遍关注。本文以政治经济学方法为分析工具,对亚太地区双边主义兴起的动因进行剖析和评价,指出亚太地区双边主义的形成是亚太地区各经济体在当前国际政治经济环境约束下,选择最大化自身利益的贸易政策的必然结果。中国应积极参与建立双边自由贸易区;发挥先发优势,谋求以我为主的区域经济一体化进程;协调国家战略与地区战略,平衡经济利益和政治利益。