Do Trade Agreements Stimulate International Trade Differently? Evidence from 296 Trade Agreements

In a seminal article, Rose (2004) found that the assumed positive impact of the WTO on international trade was questionable. This finding has been scrutinised and modified in subsequent research, using different data sets, econometric methods and separating the WTO from other forms of trade agreements. A key characteristic of the subsequent literature is the rather simplistic way in which trade agreements are treated whereby all trade agreements are lumped together. Trade agreements come, however, in many different forms and shapes. This study addresses these differences in trade agreements. Using a unique database of 296 trade agreements, we distinguish 17 trade‐related policy domains and indicate whether the agreements contain legally enforceable commitments. This extensive and novel taxonomy of trade agreements enables us to allow for the possible heterogeneity of the impact of trade agreements on international trade. Using a gravity model, we find that trade agreement heterogeneity indeed matters for international trade and that countries experience significant trade increases due to comprehensive trade agreements even if not all participants are in the WTO.     

Do Trade Agreements Increase Food Trade?

In addition to multilateral trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the world has seen a remarkable proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the last two decades. This study investigates whether these multilateral and regional trade institutions increase food trade and bring the world into a freer flow of food. The gravity model of international trade is used for the empirical analysis. The model is developed in a large panel data setting and attempted to address some potential problems in the estimations including multilateral trade resistances, zero trade values and endogeneity. The results suggest that both the WTO and RTAs have delivered significant positive effects on trade among the participant countries, but not food. Only RTAs are found to have increased food trade among the participant countries. However, although on average the WTO is found to have negative implications on food trade, it facilitates the developing countries more than the developed countries.     

The Olympics＇ Impacts on China＇s Foreign Trade

The Beijing Olympics will have a lasting effect on China, especially on its politics and diplo macy, but the Olympics will only have limited and indirect influence on its foreign trade in my view.     

Trump’s Trade Policy Agenda

President Donald Trump espouses “America First” positions which are commonly interpreted as protectionist. However, a closer reading of Donald Trump’s business interests, of his administration’s published trade agenda and of US trade negotiation history calls into question whether “America First” means protectionism. Trump will use large trade deficits to pressure trading partners to further open up their markets. Companies that are successful in exporting to the US market from those countries will be alarmed by protectionist announcements and will therefore most likely pressure their governments to give in to the demands of the Trump administration.     

Beyond the WTO? An Anatomy of EU and US Preferential Trade Agreements

It is often alleged that PTAs involving the EC and the US include a significant number of obligations in areas not currently covered by the WTO Agreement, such as investment protection, competition policy, labour standards and environmental protection. The primary purpose of this study is to highlight the extent to which these claims are true. The study divides the contents of all PTAs involving the EC and the US currently notified to the WTO, into 14 ‘WTO+’ and 38 ‘WTO‐X’ areas, where WTO+ provisions come under the current mandate of the WTO, and WTO‐X provisions deal with issues lying outside the current WTO mandate. As a second step, the legal enforceability of each obligation is evaluated, and judged on the extent to which the text specifies clear obligations. Among the findings are: (i) EC agreements contain almost four times as many instances of WTO‐X provisions as do US agreements; (ii) but EC agreements evidence a very significant amount of ‘legal inflation’ (i.e. non‐legally enforceable provisions) in the WTO‐X category, and US agreements actually contain more enforceable WTO‐X provisions than do the EC agreements; (iii) US agreements tend to emphasise regulatory areas more compared to EC agreements.     

Exploring the Impacts of McService on Customers’ Loyalty: An Emerging Market’s Perspective

The aim of the study is to examine the key service quality attributes that affect Korean consumers’ loyalty toward McDonald’s in Korea. A survey instrument was developed to examine the key service quality attributes that influenc Korean consumers’ loyalty. The surveys were distributed to Korean college students. The results of the study suggest that social place and employee service quality are the two major dimensions that significantly affect Korean respondents’ intent to return to McDonald’s. Interestingly, convenience, value, and food quality were not found to be major dimensions that impact Korean respondents’ intention to return to McDonald’s. This finding is starkly different from the common belief that McService is based on value and covenience, as emphasized by McDonald’s value statements. The results of the study suggests that Korean consumers view McDonald’s as a social gathering place and expect high service quality from McDonald’s.     

China＇s Trade Deficit,or？COMPOSITION of China＇s Trade Deficit

China＇s foreign trade in March witnessed a monthly trade deficit according to its national Customs data. It was the first time for China to have a trade deficit after 70 months of continuous trade surplus, since May 2004.     

60 Years of China＇s Foreign Trade

Since the founding of the People＇s Republic of China 60 years ago, especially its launch of reform and opening up policy 30 years ago, China has achieved great transformation from a closed or semi-closed to an all-round opening up economy. Foreign trade has also made brilliant achievements. Goods and services continue to expand from small to large scale, from low to high quality. After sixty years of hard work, today＇s China is integrating into the world economy with a more open-minded state and more self confidence.     

Member List of Council of China′s Foreign Trade

Honorary, Chairmen: Wan Jifei Chairman of China′s Council tbr the Promotion of International Trade He Guangwei Former Director General of China National Tour- ism Administration Li Kenong Vice Minister of General Administration of China Custom     

Member List of Council of China＇s Foreign Trade

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Member List of Council of China＇s Foreign Trade

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Member List of Council of China＇s Foreign Trade

Honorary Chairmen: Wan Jifei Chairman of China’s Council for the Promotion of International Trade He Guangwei Former Director General of China National Tourism Administration Li Kenong Vice Minister of General Administration of China Customs