Economic partnership agreements between the European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific Countries: What is at stake for Senegal

"In recent years the European Union has sought to transform its trading regime with the ACP countries by advocating reciprocal free trade agreements with them through Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). As a result, the EPA talks were launched in 2002 and were expected be completed by the end of 2007. Nevertheless, many African countries, including Senegal did not reach agreements with the European Union in 2007 amid rising concerns that such agreements do not represent the interests of developing countries. This policy shift from preferential trade to free trade would imply drastic changes for Senegal's economy, which currently enjoys relatively good access to European market (but also to the U.S. through the African Growth Opportunity Act) while applying a high domestic protection on all sources of imports. As a result, this type of reform would result in improved access to foreign markets only for the EU. Furthermore, the EPA implies a loss of tariff revenues from liberalization, which has been a key concern for ACP countries from the beginning of talks because they constitute a high level of public receipts there. Finally this kind of reform could lead to trade diversion in Senegal while creating not enough trade. Using the MIRAGE computable general equilibrium model the study examines the potential impact of Economic Partnership Agreements on ACP countries with a special focus on Senegal." from Author's AbstractEconomic partnership agreements, European Union, economic growth, Computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling, trade, Markets, Globalization,

The development promise: Can the doha development agenda deliver for least developed countries?

"The benefits least-developed countries (LDCs) can draw from a multilateral trade reform as designed by the modalities made public in May 2008 are negligible, and some countries will even face adverse effects. World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators should make a supplementary effort in favor of the poorest countries. The Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) Initiative moves in the right direction, but it should be extended not only from a product point of view—with a 100, not 97, percent application—but also in terms of geographic coverage. This initiative has to be supported by both Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and BrIC (Brazil, India, and China) countries. It is in the interests of Asian LDCs to prioritize full openness of OECD markets (a 100-percent DFQF regime) and full access to the U.S. market in particular, while African countries will draw more benefits from a geographic extension of this regime to BrIC countries." from TextTrade reform, Doha Development Agenda, Least developed countries, World Trade Organization Developing countries,

Trade and investment in Latin America and Asia: Lessons from the past and potential perspectives from further integration

CGE Modeling, FTA, trade liberalization,

Les accords de partenariat économique. Quels enjeux pour le Sénégal ?

In recent years the European Union has sought to transform its trading regime with the ACP countries by advocating reciprocal free trade agreements with them through Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). This policy shift from preferential trade to free trade would imply drastic changes for Senegal?s economy, which currently enjoys relatively good access to European markets, but also to the US while applying a high domestic protection on all sources of imports. As a result, this type of reform would result in improved access to foreign markets only for the EU. Furthermore, the EPA implies a loss of tariff revenues from liberalization. Putting differently, this kind of reform could lead to trade diversion in Senegal and will not create much trade. Using the MIRAGE computable general equilibrium model the study examines the potential impact of Economic Partnership Agreements on ACP countries with a special focus on Senegal. JEL Classification : F13, F14, F15.Free trade areas, Trade creation, Trade diversion

Trade and investment in Latin America and Asia : Potential perspectives from further integration

Recently, Asian and Latin American countries have been involved in a series of negotiations to liberalize trade and investment flows. This paper analyzes the potential impact of a Free Trade Agreement between countries of both regions, applying a world dynamic general equilibrium model (MIRAGE). The model includes a new way of modeling bilateral investment flows and bilateral investment agreements. Our results show that most countries will benefit from the agreement; however, Latin American countries' gains will be higher, especially when all Asian countries participate. Latin American countries will also gain from increased FDI inflows, mainly from developed Asian countries

Increasing Africa's Participation in Global Trade: The Role of Market Access and Domestic Infrastructure

For many years, African countries have experienced slow economic growth. A major policy tool used to address this issue has been preferential market access whereby, certain developed countries have lowered and sometimes eliminated tariffs on imports from Africa. Despite this special treatment, however, there has been a sharp decline in Africa's global trade participation in the last few decades. There are many factors that may explain this phenomenon. First, while on average Africa has relatively good access to foreign markets, individual countries within the continent continue to face high tariff barriers. Second, preferential market access conceded to Africa has often been accompanied by numerous non-tariff barriers inhibiting African exports. Third, most African countries lack adequate trade facilitating infrastructure. All these factors suggest that the problem with Africa's low global trade participation cannot be addressed entirely using one policy approach. Along with increased market access, improving trade-related infrastructure and promoting aid for trade initiatives are crucial measures toward helping poor countries overcome supply-side constraints and integrate into the global economy. In fact, although preferential schemes have a large and positive impact on Africa, at times they are not sufficient and may even cause harm due to the narrow base of export diversity among African economies. Copyright (c) 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) The Agricultural Economics Society and the European Association of Agricultural Economists 2009.

Can the doha development agenda deliver for least developed countries?

"The benefits least-developed countries (LDCs) can draw from a multilateral trade reform as designed by the modalities made public in May 2008 are negligible, and some countries will even face adverse effects. World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators should make a supplementary effort in favor of the poorest countries. The Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) Initiative moves in the right direction, but it should be extended not only from a product point of view-with a 100, not 97, percent application-but also in terms of geographic coverage. This initiative has to be supported by both Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and BrIC (Brazil, India, and China) countries. It is in the interests of Asian LDCs to prioritize full openness of OECD markets (a 100-percent DFQF regime) and full access to the U.S. market in particular, while African countries will draw more benefits from a geographic extension of this regime to BrIC countries." -- from TextNon-PRIFPRI1MTI