Manufacturing is still critical to the economy United States. Clyde Prestowitz, says it's time to start realizing the positive spillovers that manufacturing creates... Read more
Stephen Olson at Chinese Development Institute Conference
Clyde Prestowitz giving presentation to CDI...
Steve Olson teaching trade negotiations at the Mekong Institute...
Stephen Olson to speak at upcoming workshop organized by the International Institute for Trade and Development on
"Economics of GMS Agricultural trade in goods and services towards the world market"
Chiangmai, Thailand Sep 8-12.
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At the 1999 Ministerial Meeting in Seattle, the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations, because member governments could not agree about how much WTO rules should constrain their policymaking prerogatives.
The purpose of the WTO is to promote trade that raises incomes and growth by regulating tariffs and other government policies that limit imports and artificially boost exports - i.e., to encourage trade based on comparative advantages, which results in a more efficient global allocation of resources. In this context, WTO members recognize the importance of ensuring that developing countries share in the benefits of this trade
Labor standards are just one arena where some governments see stronger international rules enhancing the benefits of globalization, while others view them as threatening their competitive advantages and sovereignty. Labor standards offers a window on the challenges national governments face in reaching consensus about how the WTO system should evolve.
Governments should ask five questions to assess whether labor standards should be the subject of a WTO agreement, referred to another forum, or remain outside the purview of international agreements:
Of these five questions, the answers to the first four appear to be yes:
Regarding the fifth question, the WTO could be an effective forum for addressing the relationship between workers' rights and trade. Whether it would be the most appropriate forum is a more complex matter.
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