MULTITRADE · Does Trade Multilateralism have a Future?: Reviving the WTO’s Credibility as the premier Multilateral Trade Negotiating Forum
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2014-11-10 → 2015-08-09
- EU contribution
- €11,250
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IIFR
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Results in brief
Does Trade Multilateralism have a Future?: Reviving the WTO’s Credibility as the premier Multilateral Trade Negotiating Forum
India, a staunch votary of WTO-led multilateralism, has recently started following its peers in engaging bilaterally and regionally with its trade partners. However, many analysts contend that the coverage and depth of India’s bilateral and regional trade engagements are rather shallow and not really WTO-plus as mandated under Article XXIV of GATT. Researchers also find that India’s trade agreements are sparsely utilised by traders. In view of the lack of progress in the WTO Doha negotiations, it might be interesting to assess the economic/ commercial significance of India’s bilateral and regional trade agreements. In doing so, this paper proposes an analysis of the political economy of India’s external trade policy on trade negotiations, in evaluating the economic significance of existing and proposed FTAs by India vis-à-vis its multilateral trade engagement. The paper finds little impact of FTAs on either enhanced market access or in boosting India’s trade competitiveness in the partner countries; the significant gains in foreign market access was mostly a function of the global economic boom in the naughties, boosted by China’s accession to the WTO in 2001. India’s exports/product specialisation basket is atypical, and reflects its unique resource constraints/endowment and the domestic socio-political, policy and governance challenges. The paper’s findings also underscore that most of India’s market libersalisation has been unilateral, and given the country’s particular federal democratic system of governance, concludes that market-led liberalisation has a better chance of passing popular censure when compared to negotiated and statute-enforced market opening. This further helps to counter sectoral lobby group influences and related competitiveness concerns, also balancing business perspectives with political economy considerations in the interest of promoting growth, equity and domestic employment. This finding has important ramifications for the negotiation approach and strategy of EU DG-Trade vis-à-vis EU-India FTA and also the ongoing RCEP negotiations.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In the present climate of weak economic prospects, the developed countries have seen a growing disenchantment with globalisation and trade liberalisation. Irrespective of their stated interest in enhancing export revenue to bridge fiscal gaps, strong protectionist tendencies are surfacing. Also, the focus seems to be shifting from multilateralism, made evident from the failure to conclude the on-going Doha Round of WTO negotiations and the recent spurt in FTA negotiations worldwide. On the other hand, developments since the recent financial crisis indicates that the WTO is yet to lose it’s relevance as the multilateral referee of global trade relations, as least insofar as its rule-making and dispute-settlement roles are concerned. The laudable resilience of the global trading system and WTO institutions notwithstanding, recent experience with Doha Development Round negotiations has highlighted the need for systemic changes in WTO, in the interest of making the organisation more credible and efficient.It is in this context that this project proposes to analyse possible contours of a reinvigourated multilateral trade negotiation system and trade liberalising philosophy, one that can meet the trade challenges and political-economy realities of the 21st century. To do this, the project will look at the contours of a more constructive engagement and leadership by emerging economies (and in particular Brazil, India and China) in the international trade negotiations, especially given that the major industrialised countries have now reduced their leadership in the WTO-led multilateral trade negotiations. The project will also evaluate the acceptability of a developing-country-led negotiating template that might emerge as result. Finally, we would discuss how the WTO could be reformed to institutionalise systems and governance modalities that foster/boost dynamic comparative advantages for all Members, and the specific role of emerging markets in restoring WTO’s supremacy.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- INDIA CHINA ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL COUNCIL TRUST · NEW DELHICoordinatorCity levelIndia
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union