The international repercussions of EC agricultural policy

The importance of the EC in international agricultural markets has grown steadily since the establishment of the Community and will receive another boost following its southward enlargement. Nevertheless, agricultural policy has been inward-looking and has paid, little heed to the external effects it engenders. Prof. Schmitz shows that EC agricultural policy has tended to depress world market prices, has increased their volatility and artificially distorted the price structure in the world market.     

EC agricultural and regional policy

Additional state intervention harbours the danger of increasing inconsistencies; this is especially true if there is no clear demarcation of duties between authorities at different levels, as is the case in many spheres within the EC. The plans to double the size of the EC Structural Fund by 1992 give reason to subject the EC’s agricultural and regional policy interventions to scrutiny as regards their consistency and compatibility with overall economic goals.     

EC trade policy beyond 1992

The initiative to set up the single European market has aroused fears abroad, and indeed even within Europe itself, that the intention is to turn the Community into a “Fortress Europe”. Attempts to allay these fears by the Council of Ministers, the EC Commission or individuals representing them have achieved little success, and on occasion have actually tended to be counter-productive. Is “Fortress Europe” an illusion or a real danger?     

The impact of the EC’s agricultural policy on its trade with developing countries

The European Community has frequently been blamed for impairing, through its highly protectionist agricultural policy, the development chances of Third World countries. Our article analyses whether, and to what extent, this reproach is justified.     

New developments in international agricultural trade

The nineties have seen a number of developments which will have major consequences for international agricultural trade. Will the changed conditions in the world agricultural markets enable less developed countries (LDCs) and Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to exploit their comparative advantages better, or will the reforms further squeeze them out of the industrial countries’ markets?     

US and EC agricultural trade policies: Confrontation or negotiation?

The current American and European mutual accusations of agricultural protectionism are an obvious case of the pot calling the kettle black. What series of events led up to this confrontation? And how can the conflict situation be eased?     

The US trade policy towards the EC in the Tokyo round

The seventh round of GATT negotiations was brought to a conclusion in the spring of this year. One of the objects for the USA was to correct the trend of world trade which had been to its disadvantage. Its main concern was to bring about a settlement of the trade relations with the western industrialized states and the EC in particular. Has the USA achieved these aims?     

浅谈技术性贸易壁垒与中国的国际贸易

在经济全球化，国际贸易日趋激烈化的趋势下，科技日新月异，同时也随之产生了国际贸易中的又一重要手段一技术性贸易壁垒(Technical Barriers to Trade—TBT)。所谓技术性贸易壁垒，是指一国以维护国家安全，或保护人类健康和安全，保护动植物的生命和健康，保护生念环境，或防止欺诈行为，保证产品质量为由，采取一些强制性或非强制性的技术性措施，这     

EC policy and developing countries

The EC’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) tends to restrict imports of farm produce to that part of demand which is not met by domestic production. The author analyses nature and extent of the problems arising therefrom for the LDCs that are heavily dependent on exports of agricultural goods.     

EC agricultural reform policy—The beginning of a new form of protectionism?

The European Community regards its current agricultural policy “reforms” as an adjustment to the reality of the market and hence as a contribution to easing the strains in world agricultural trade and reducing worldwide distortions in resource allocation. A detailed analysis gives ground for scepticism.     

中日农产品贸易与贸易摩擦分析

中、日建交以来,双边贸易关系越来越密切。但随着两国农产品贸易交流与合作的不断发展,其贸易摩擦也与日俱增,这影响了中日贸易的健康发展。本文从分析中国对日农产品出口贸易的贸易规模、产品结构等入手,得出对日农产品贸易的特点。然后,通过介绍两个重点贸易摩擦事件,分析其原因。     

Sanitary and phytosanitary measures in international trade: policy considerations vs. economic reasoning

Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are one form of non‐tariff international trade barrier with the objective of requiring consumer and intermediate goods to be safe and to provide information to protect consumers from deceptive practices. However, such barriers could severely restrict trade. The central strategy of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) SPS Agreement is to use science to distinguish between those SPS measures consistent with the Agreement and those in violation of the Agreement. SPS measures belong to what is known as trans‐science questions or questions which can be asked of science and yet which cannot be answered by science. Because of the presence of scientific uncertainty, science policies adopted by members should be identified by the WTO. WTO panels should not, however, establish scientific policies. Prohibitive measures would seem rather incompatible with the role the WTO assumed trying to promote free trade. Rather, facilitating the distribution of available information regarding SPS and food safety risk, or a lack of it, to consumers in importing countries would help them to make better informed decisions according to their own preferences and risk aversion.     

Structural changes in EC trade intensities

The European Economic Community has now been in existence for about 20 years. Five years have elapsed since it was enlarged. What progress have the member countries made in the integration of their foreign trade? What would be the repercussions of a southward extension of the EC to take in Greece, Portugal and Spain?

     

Structural changes in EC trade intensities

The European Economic Community has now been in existence for about 20 years. Five years have elapsed since it was enlarged. What progress have the member countries made in the integration of their foreign trade? What would be the repercussions of a southward extension of the EC to take in Greece, Portugal and Spain?     

Pareto-superior trade policy

Current literature shows the welfare superiority of ad valorem over specific tariffs or domestic governments facing foreign monopolists. This note establishes the stronger result that, for any given specific tariff imposed on a foreign monopoly, there exists an ad valorem tariff that Pareto dominates it - that produces larger profit for the foreign firm as well as larger tariff revenue and consumer surplus for the domestic economy. This Pareto ranking can be extended to the case of foreign Cournot oligopoly under certain market conditions.