scholarly journals TPP, American National Security and Chinese SOEs

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAJ BHALA

AbstractFree trade agreements (FTAs) are about far more than free trade. They are about national security. A trade deal may be ambitious in liberalizing or managing cross-border flows in goods, services, intellectual property (IP), and people, but to argue for or against an FTA solely along the axis of free versus managed trade is to miss another vital purpose – the deal can, and indeed should, advance national security. This article makes two points. First, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) exemplifies the possibility of enhancing the national security the United States, through containment of China and its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Second, the debate over the definition of state owned enterprise (SOE) is one among many illustrations in the TPP of the link between national security, trade, and containment. The 12 nations negotiating the TPP were aware of this link, and deliberated the definition of ‘SOE’. The TPP excluded the Middle Kingdom from the founding members, while the founders wrote the TPP rules to bind China if it subsequently joined the deal. Chinese SOEs were of concern to them, for bona fide national security reasons, and so also were legitimate sovereign interests in providing goods and services through their own SOEs. The evaluation by America and its 11 TPP partners, as to which entities should be included in the scope of SOE disciplines led to a set of clear rules.

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 671-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSAN AARONSON

AbstractHerein, we examine how the United States and the European Union use trade agreements to advance the free flow of information and to promote digital rights online. In the 1980s and 1990s, after US policymakers tried to include language governing the free flow of information in trade agreements, other nations feared a threat to their sovereignty and their ability to restrict cross-border data flows in the interest of privacy or national security.In the twenty-first century, again many states have not responded positively to US and EU efforts to facilitate the free flow of information. They worry that the US dominates both the Internet economy and Internet governance in ways that benefit its interests. After the Snowden allegations, many states adopted strategies that restricted rather than enhanced the free flow of information. Without deliberate intent, efforts to set information free through trade liberalization may be making the Internet less free.Finally, the two trade giants are not fully in agreement on Internet freedom, but neither has linked policies to promote the free flow of information with policies to advance digital rights. Moreover, they do not agree as to when restrictions on information are necessary and when they are protectionist.


Author(s):  
Douglas A. Irwin

This chapter describes the legal framework that allows firms to petition the government for the imposition of tariffs on competing imports. It introduces the antidumping law as the most commonly used measure to block unfair imports. It talks about the government's definition of “dumping” as a lower price charged in the United States than in a foreign exporter's home market. The chapter also examines the case for providing domestic industries with temporary relief from imports so that they can adjust to foreign competition, including the recently revived “national security” rationale for limiting imports. It looks at countervailing duties, which address foreign subsidies and escape clause, and provide industries with temporary relief from imports without the claim of unfairness.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (102) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Rosario Serra Cristóbal

Resumen:La gestión coordinada de las fronteras y el funcionamiento eficaz de los sistemas de tratamiento de datos de circulación de personas pueden servir como mecanismo de alerta temprana frente al riesgo de ataques terroristas. Puede fortalecer la capacidad colectiva de los Estados para detectar, prevenir y combatir el terrorismo al facilitar el intercambio oportuno de información, permitiendo así adoptar de forma responsable decisiones cruciales.Este trabajo analiza los concretos instrumentos de gestión de datos en fronteras que pueden ser útiles en la lucha antiterrorista, porque el primer paso en inteligencia reside en la obtención de información, que luego será analizada y tratada para convertir esa información en conocimiento. Como tendremos oportunidad de comprobar, muchas de las bases de datos en fronteras se crearon para controlar la entrada de inmigrantes en las fronteras europeas, pero la información que ofrecen dichos sistemas puede servir también para luchar contra ese reto que nos amenaza, el del terrorismo yihadista. No obstante, este trabajo subraya que se trata de fenómenos distintos.Es cierto que la nueva oleada de ataques yihadistas ha coincidido, en el mismo espacio temporal, con la mayor crisis migratoria a la que se ha tenido que enfrentar Europa debido a crisis humanitarias y posteriormente a la guerra de Siria u otros conflictos. Pero, no son lo mismo. El terrorismo yihadista y la inmigración poco o nada tienen que ver, por mucho que se hayan querido vincular o se hayan pretendido justificar determinadas políticas contra la inmigración como algo necesario para luchar contra el terrorismo yihadista, con el fácil argumento de que frenando la inmigración se evita la entrada de potenciales terroristas en Europa.El trabajo advierte del riesgo de que la lucha contra el terrorismo sea utilizada para reforzar los controles de personas en las fronteras con el verdadero objetivo de frenar los flujos migratorios. Al tiempo, subraya la necesidad de que en dichos controles se sigan directrices y prácticas claras y se respeten plenamente las obligaciones que los Estados tienen de conformidad con el Derecho internacional, tal como ha recordado el Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos y el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea. De hecho, no son pocos los casos en los que estos Tribunales han subrayado la relevancia indubitada de principios como la reserva de ley, la necesidad o la proporcionalidad como sustrato de la licitud de muchas medidas que incluyen el tratamiento de datos personales.Summary:1. Jihadist terrorism as a cross-border phenomenon. 2. The benefit of data exchange on crossing-borders in the Schengen area. 3. New guidelines on data processing and the safeguard of national security. 4. The register of passengers (The Personal Name Record or PNR). 5. When the data cross the external borders. The exchange of data with third countries. 5.1. The failed PNR Agreement with Canada and the EU Court of Justice’s standards regarding the transfer of passengers’ data. 5.2. The exchange of data with the United States. The EU-US Umbrella Agreement and the Privacy Shield. 6. The use of profiles and blacklists of alleged terrorists in cross-bording. 7. ConclusionsAbstract:EU Coordinated border management and effective functioning of data processing systems related to the movement of persons may serve as an early warning mechanism against the risk of terrorist attacks. It can strengthen the collective capacity of States to detect, prevent and combat terrorism by facilitating the timely exchange of information, thereby enabling crucial decisions to be adopted in a responsible manner.This paper analyzes the concrete border data management tools that can be useful in the fight against terrorism. The first step in intelligence lies in obtaining information, which will then be analyzed and treated to turn that information into useful knowledge. As we will have an opportunity to verify, numerous border databases were created to control the entry of immigrants into European borders, but the information offered by these systems can also serve to fight against this challenge that threatens us, that of jihadist terrorism.Nevertheless, we emphasize that terrorism and immigration are different phenomena. The truth is that the new wave of Jihadist attacks took place along the largest migratory crisis that Europe faced due to different humanitarian crises and to the war in Syria and other conflicts. But they represent different realities. Jihadist terrorism and immigration have little or nothing in common. In spite of this, many wish to link both with a view to justify certain anti-immigration policies as necessary actions for coping with Jihadist terrorism. This has been done based on a simple narrative: holding back immigration prevents the entry of potential terrorists in Europe.This paper shows that the risk that the fight against terrorism will be used as a basis to reinforce people controls at the borders, while the true objective of these measures is to curb migratory flows. At the same time, it underlines the need for clear guidelines and practices to be followed when implementing such controls. It also vindicates the need for States to observe their obligations laid down by international law, as recalled by the European Court of Human Rights and the EU Court of the Justice. In fact, in many cases, these jurisdictions highlighted the undoubted relevance of the statutory reserve principle, the principle of necessity or the principle of proportionality, as legal basis for the adoption of measures that include personal data processing.


Author(s):  
Malcolm Fairbrother

This book is about the political events and decisions in the 1980s and 1990s that established the global economy we have today. Different social scientists and other commentators have described the foundations of globalization very differently. Some have linked the rise of free trade and multinational enterprises to the democratic expression of ordinary people’s hopes and desires; others have said they were a top-down project requiring, if anything, the circumvention of democracy. This book shows that politicians did not decide to embrace globalization because of the preferences of the mass public. Instead, using comparative-historical case studies of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, this book shows that politicians’ decisions reflected the agendas and outlooks of various kinds of elites. On the basis of more than a hundred interviews, and analyses of materials from archives in all three countries, the book tells the story of how the three countries negotiated and ratified two agreements that substantially opened and integrated their economies: the 1989 Canada-US and trilateral 1994 North American Free Trade Agreements. Contrary to what many people believe, these agreements (like free trade elsewhere) were based less on mainstream, neoclassical economics than on the informal, self-serving economic ideas of businesspeople. This folk economics shaped the contents of the agreements, and helped bind together the elite coalitions whose support made them politically possible. These same ideas, however, have reinforced some harmful economic misunderstandings, and have even contributed to the recent backlash against globalization in some countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 92-95
Author(s):  
Kathleen Claussen

These remarks are derived from a forthcoming work considering the future of international trade law. Compared with most features of the international legal system, the regional and bilateral trade law system is in the early stages of its evolution. For example, the United States is a party to fourteen free trade agreements currently in force, all but two of which have entered into force since 2000. The recent proliferation of agreements, particularly bilateral and regional agreements, is not unique to the United States. The European Union recently concluded trade agreement negotiations with Canada, Singapore, and Vietnam to add to its twenty-seven agreements in force and is negotiating approximately ten additional bilateral or multilateral agreements. In the Asia-Pacific Region, the number of regional and bilateral free trade agreements has grown exponentially since the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Area of 1992. At that time, the region counted five such agreements in force. Today, the number totals 140 with another seventy-nine under negotiation or awaiting entry into force. The People's Republic of China is negotiating half a dozen bilateral trade agreements at present to top off the sixteen already in effect. India likewise is engaged in at least ten trade agreement negotiations. The World Trade Organization (WTO) reports 267 agreements of this sort in force among its members as of July 1, 2016.


Significance Even if it succeeds, this will have a greater disruptive impact on the trade in services than goods, because the EU’s single market enables greater cross-border services trade than is typical of other free trade agreements (FTAs). This is likely to cut the volume of EU-UK services trade, in which the United Kingdom currently enjoys a substantial surplus. Impacts The United Kingdom’s departure from the EU will diminish its appeal for multinationals over the next few years, at least. The new UK immigration system could result in staff shortages in low-skilled services sectors. The imperative of tackling COVID-19 will likely delay the conclusion of new trade deals with non-EU countries.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Dent

AbstractSince the late 1990s there has been a rapid proliferation of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, regions previously largely devoid of FTA activity by comparison to others. As this trend has intensified, so have discussions on whether it will help advance regional co-operation and integration. This paper examines the nature of FTAs themselves and the main causes of East Asia and Asia-Pacific FTAs. The 'lattice regionalism' hypothesis is considered: whether dense economic bilateralism provides a sub-structural foundation on which economic regionalism (i.e. co-operation and integration) can build. Closely related is the issue of competing FTA models and modalities in the Asia-Pacific, and special attention is afforded to the 'asymmetric neoliberal' FTA model of the United States and the 'developmental–industrial' FTA model championed by Japan. It is argued that the contrasts between these make the emergence of an Asia-Pacific FTA unlikely in even the distant future. Japan's FTA model is also considered relative to perhaps East Asia's most important FTA project, the ASEAN–China FTA (ACFTA), and we discuss how bilateral FTA developments in the region more generally may or may not lead to enhanced regional economic co-operation and integration in East Asia.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inkyo Cheong ◽  
Jungran Cho

The Korean government introduced the trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program to facilitate structural adjustment under the implementation of its free trade agreements (FTAs). One big problem with the TAA program is that its criterion for eligibility for TAA support requires a 25 percent decrease in sales volume, and this does not reflect firms' business realities. The TAA program should be reformed to reflect that the TAA is a quid pro quo for the implementation of FTAs with large economies such as the United States and the EU.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 687
Author(s):  
Lucy Reed ◽  
Robert Kirkness

New Zealand has to date enjoyed the luxury of engaging with the modern investment treaty regime through only three free-trade agreements with compulsory investor-State arbitration clauses. This may be about to change. New Zealand is negotiating a series of further free-trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, many of which are likely to provide for investor-State dispute resolution. New Zealand faces a choice in these negotiations: should it reject investment treaty arbitration on the basis that the risks, especially the perceived risks of restricted freedom to regulate, are too great or instead seek to make use of the opportunities investment treaty arbitration presents? This article looks at the evolving system of investment treaty arbitration and the different ways in which States seek to make use of it, with a focus on the Netherlands, the United States, and New Zealand.


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