INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TRADE, LABOR, AND ：国际贸易协定的签订，劳动，和.pptVIP

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS: TRADE, LABOR, AND THE ENVIRONMENT Introduction 1999 WTO trade negotiations in Seattle, WA were the first to be heavily protested, with protests sometimes turning violent. Past trade negotiations had focused on lowering tariffs in most sectors of members’ economies. Remaining barriers to trade, however, dealt with regulatory barriers, such as environmental regulations. The Uruguay Round (1986–1994) allowed for countries to bring disputes if they felt they were excluded from a market due to unreasonable environmental standards. Introduction These new rules infuriated many groups who thought the WTO might threaten their environmental interests. Additionally, many felt it undesirable for a panel in Geneva to make rulings affecting domestic regulations. All these groups gathered in Seattle to voice their dissatisfaction with the WTO. The goal of this chapter is to examine why international agreements are needed, and how these agreements affect labor and environmental issues. International Trade Agreements Countries will often enter into a trade agreement to reduce trade barriers between themselves. The WTO is a multilateral trade agreement, involving many countries, all with the goal of reducing tariffs between member countries. WTO has negotiated many trade agreements. Under the most favored nation principle, the lower tariffs agreed to in these negotiations must be extended equally to all WTO members. New members get these benefits, but must also agree to lower their own tariffs. To demonstrate a multilateral trade agreement, we will assume there are only two countries. International Trade Agreements The Logic of Multilateral Trade Agreements Tariffs for a large Country Figure 11.1 shows the effects of a tariff on a large country (Home). We found before that a tariff leads to a deadweight loss for Home: (b+d). We also saw a terms-of-trade gain for Home, e, which equals the reduction in Foreign price due to the tariff times the Home imports w