How to Design Trade Agreements in Services: Top Down or Bottom Up?

Adlung, Rudolf; Mamdouh, Hamid

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2283168

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Adding to this complexity, for services, national treatment is negotiable under the GATS, whereas for merchandise, national treatment is not negotiable under the GATT. Therefore, in the GATS, negotiations on the trade liberalization of a single industry involve eight parameters: market access and national treatment times four modes of delivery (Adlung and Mamdouh, 2014). For any government and, in particular, for countries with limited institutional capacity, this means that negotiations on services are demanding.…”

Section: Discussion Of Trade Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Servicification of Firms and Trade Policy Implications

Lodefalk

2016

World Trade Review

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In the OECD countries, the decline of manufacturing and the employment implications have long been matters of concern. Recently, policymakers in several countries have set out to try and achieve reindustrialization. The servicification of firms is related to these concerns and aspirations. However, servicification, and particularly its role in trade policy, has received limited attention. I review micro-level evidence and discuss its implications. I find that imported, domestic and exported services are all important to contemporary firm competitiveness and participation in international value chains. Therefore, historic policymaking divisions between trade in manufactures and trade in services services, between export and import interests, and among modes of supply are becoming less relevant. I conclude by suggesting potential steps forward.

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Section: Discussion Of Trade Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…38 The liberalization that has taken place has been made predominantly unilaterally and to some extent, through PTAs (Adlung, 2009;Roy et al, 2006).…”

Section: Why Are Barriers To Trade In Services So High?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Servicification of Firms and Trade Policy Implications

Lodefalk

2016

World Trade Review

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“…Different countries adopt different approaches to scheduling commitments under services agreements. There are two broad approaches: positive list approach and negative list approach (Adlung & Mamdouh, 2013;Fink & Molinuevo, 2008;Miroudot et al, 2010;Roy et al, 2006). The WTO's GATS follows a positive list approach, whereas the NAFTA follows a negative list approach for scheduling commitments.…”

Section: Design Of India's Bilateral Agreements: Ex Ante Commitments and Ex Post Rulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology Uncertainty and Incompleteness in Trade Agreements: Reflections from the Design of India’s Bilateral Agreements Covering Services

Goyal

2021

Foreign Trade Review

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International trade agreements are incomplete contracts. The international environment is non-stationary, and technological progress affects both the nature of services and modes of service delivery. This creates uncertainty about future developments in technology-based services. In the presence of transactions costs and due to limited foresight, it is difficult to specify all contingencies within trade agreements ex ante, resulting in contractual incompleteness. This article investigates the design of India’s services agreements to assess the approach followed while listing the ex ante commitment and its implication on technology-based services. It also discusses the ex post mechanism under these agreements to address the gaps in the commitments with respect to new services, and the enforcement mechanism to facilitate the inclusion of these services. It is found that India’s bilateral agreements leave the inclusion of services that may not be technically feasible, ex ante, at the discretion of the trading partners, ex post. Some of India’s agreements also institute a governance mechanism for facilitating this inclusion. The article argues that there is a need for addressing the issue of technology uncertainty both at an international-trade-policy level and under bilateral agreements. Internationally, efforts are underway for a technology-neutral classification of services. Bilateral agreements must include a robust mechanism within the scope of the Agreement for filling gaps that may arise with technological advancements. For furthering the objective of trade agreements, these mechanisms must be backed by sound governance structure. JEL Codes: L80, L84, L86, F13, K33, F53, F55

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“…Under the WTO, Trade in Services is covered by the General Agreement on Trade in Services and includes Business Services, Financial and Insurance Services, Telecommunications, Education, Electronic Commerce, Postal and Transportation Services, Architectural and Engineering Services and Environmental and Tourism Services (Adlung & Mamdouh, 2013). It also includes the provision of all categories of Services at cross-border level (mode 1), use (consumption) of Services abroad (mode 2), direct investment for commercial services (mode 3) and physical presence abroad (mode 4).…”

Section: International Negotiations Of Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Efforts to liberalize World Trade in Services

Mylonakis¹

2019

RBM

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In every international or global trade summit, one can easily find the element of the Services. Nonetheless, Services companies continue to encounter obstacles to entering and operating in new markets, due to various protectionist measures in host countries. International negotiations help to globalize the Trade in Services and apply international standards and rules to facilitate information flow and partnerships, which increase world trade and further develop international trade relations. The existence and implementation of international standards and rules in all areas of the Services could facilitate the flow of information and partnerships that would increase world trade and improve international trade relations. Efforts to reach a new world agreement in Services are constantly stumbling into the refusal of the Least Developed and Developing Countries to curb the various policies of protectionism and free market penetration. The example of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, People's Republic of China, South Africa) may be a good paradigm in international negotiations but still to be proved.

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How to Design Trade Agreements in Services: Top Down or Bottom Up?

Cited by 11 publications

References 1 publication

Servicification of Firms and Trade Policy Implications

Servicification of Firms and Trade Policy Implications

Technology Uncertainty and Incompleteness in Trade Agreements: Reflections from the Design of India’s Bilateral Agreements Covering Services

Global Efforts to liberalize World Trade in Services

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