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Organization for Economic Cooperation "Oecd Insights: International Trade, Free, Fair, and Open?"

Trade, like every other aspect of the economy, has been deeply

affected by the global recession that started to emerge in the wake

of the 2008 financial crisis. As this book goes to press, we are

projecting a decline in world trade for the first time since 1982.

Trade is not at the origin of the crisis, but since it binds

economies closely together, it helps to spread developments from

one country to another – the negative developments as well as the

positive. Weakening consumption and investment reduce demand

for exports, a matter of critical importance for most countries, and

particularly those whose economic development strategies rely

on export-led growth.

Given the need to tackle unemployment, the temptation for

some policy makers and parts of the media is to argue that the

priority is to protect the national economy by reducing imports,

reserving government contracts for domestic firms, refusing to

help companies who invest abroad, and so on.

This approach is based on the seriously flawed premise that any

country can rely solely on its own natural, economic and human

resources to produce everything it needs, at a price its population

can afford to pay.

In fact, national economies need international markets to produce

and sell things. Most international trade is not in the goods we buy

in the shops. It consists of the things needed to make these goods,

ranging from the microprocessors and software in electronic

equipment to the cereals in food. By making these more expensive,

protectionism ends up making everybody pay more. Reducing the

size of markets and making things more expensive damages the

economic growth on which jobs and living standards depend.

Experience has shown that international trade can make a

major contribution to improving the living standards of people

throughout the world. As this book points out, an increase in the

share of trade in GDP of one percentage point raises income levels

by between 0.9% and 3%.

So although an inward-looking, individualist approach may seem

attractive to some in the short term, a co-ordinated international

commitment not to engage in protectionist actions would produce

a much more effective, longer-lasting means to reduce the damage

from the current crisis. In fact, further trade liberalisation would be

an even better option as part of a broader response to the crisis.Of course, liberalising further, and even keeping open

those markets that have already been liberalised, will require

international co-ordination on a broad set of issues ranging from

stimulus packages to financial sector reform to social protection.

Still, liberal trade policy has an important role to play, reinforcing

market-oriented solutions and establishing conditions for a more

robust recovery than would have been possible otherwise. That

said, progress requires compromise and trade-offs among various

interests, and it tends to be hard won.

A multilateral system is the best way to ensure that all nations have

a say in how trade is conducted. There is, however, substantial room

for debate on the specifics of how to implement this. In practical

terms, what can be done? Even in a relatively calmer economic

climate in the first half of 2008, no agreement was reached on the

World Trade Organization’s Doha Development Agenda despite a

strong push by key stakeholders. Yet, concluding the Doha Round

would be a significant contribution towards the confidence building

needed to get the global economy moving in a healthy direction.

With strong political will, a deal could be reached on issues

where substantial progress has already been achieved, including

market access for goods and services, moves to facilitate trade, and

steps to make sure that the least developed countries benefit more

fully from globalisation. Trade liberalisation is not an end in itself

though. It is part of a strategy to promote economic development

and improve social welfare by making the world’s resources more

readily available to all. And progress in trade liberalisation would

send a strong signal that governments can successfully collaborate

in a positive manner in response to the crisis.

This latest book in the Insights series tries to present the

issues objectively, showing the benefits of openness, but also

the limits to what trade and trade policy can achieve. As well

as an introduction to the history of international trade and the

mechanisms and institutions that shape trade today, the book also

discusses the relationship between trade and a number of key

issues such as employment, the environment and development.

I hope that you will find the information presented useful, and

the arguments stimulating.

Angel Gurría

Secretary-General of the OECD

CONTENTS

1. Introduction 8

2. Growing Grapes in Scotland 18

3. The State of World Trade 36

4. Protectionism? Tariffs and Other Barriers to Trade 54

5. Trade Rounds and the World Trade Organization 76

6. Trade and Employment 92

7. Trade and the Environment 108

8. Trade and Development 122

9. Trade and Growth 138

10. Trade and Innovation 152

11. What’s in It for Me? 170

References 182

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