The Integration Of Selected Economies In Transition Into The International Trading System And Its Implications For Their Trade With Developing Countries

How can international trade agreements promote development and how can rules be designed to benefit poor countries? Can multilateral trade cooperation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) help developing countries create and strengthen institutions and regulatory regimes that will enhance the gains from trade and integration into the global economy? And should this even be done? These are questions that confront policy makers and citizens in both rich and poor countries, and they are the subject of Economic Development and Multilateral Trade Cooperation. This book analyzes how the trading system could be made more supportive of economic development, without eroding the core WTO functions.

Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the growth of trade has been sluggish and the expansion of GVCs has stalled. Meanwhile, serious threats have emerged to the model of trade-led growth. New technologies could draw production closer to the consumer and reduce the demand for labor. And trade conflicts among large countries could lead to a retrenchment or a segmentation of GVCs. World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is, at this stage, more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation; industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies; and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.

This book critically analyses the World Trade Organization’s approach to "special and differential treatment" (SDT) to argue that it is founded on seeking exemptions from WTO obligations, instead of creating an enabling environment for developing countries to integrate fully into the multilateral trading system. Through six key sections: United States Proposal on Special and Differential Treatment Responses to United States Proposal The Evolution of Differential Treatment Failure of the Current Approach to Differential Treatment Complications Created by China’s Emergence in the Global Economy An Alternative Approach to Differential Treatment this book explores how, by adopting a new evidence-based, case-by-case approach to SDT, the development of the poorest countries can best be advanced, while at the same time ensuring that advanced developing countries carry their weight in the organization. It will be of interest to scholars and students of international trade law and political science, as well as trade practitioners such as lawyers, diplomats, and analysts.

"A well-integrated volume which analyzes major trade problems and sets forth concrete, reasonable proposals for dealing with them." --Foreign Affairs North-South trade relations are deeply troubled. U.S. exports to developing countries declined by $19.2 billion for 1980-83, at the cost of some 1.1 million jobs in the U.S. export sector. Many developing countries, meanwhile, face financial crises that can only be resolved over the long run through resumed expansion of trade. In this volume, distinguished practitioners and academics identify specific policy objectives for the United States on issues that will be prominent in the proposed new round of GATT negotiations: adjustment of U.S. firms and workers to imports from developing countries, including sensitive sectors such as textile and steel; transition or "graduation" of the newly industrialized countries of East Asia and Latin America to a more reciprocal basis of access to markets; special benefits for the poorest or least developed countries; and preferential trading arrangements.

For 10 years the trade research group at the World Bank has undertaken outstanding and innovative empirical studies of the processes under which technology transfer occurs and its impacts on local economies. This volume brings together the fruits of this endeavour and offers a wealth of perspectives on this central issue for development.