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The purposes of this paper are to provide a new framework for the (re)assessment of North-South relations, with a specific focus on North-South preferential trade agreements (PTAs); advance a new mechanism of how first-order, i.e. Southern countries’ first, North-South PTAs can affect the outcomes of second-order, i.e. Southern countries’ subsequent, North-South PTA negotiations; and re-examine the effects of North-South power asymmetries on the outcomes of North-South PTA negotiations.

The paper focuses on how North-South power asymmetries affect the outcomes of North-South PTA negotiations. It introduces the concept of “first-order” and “second-order” North-South PTAs to show that the “order” of an agreement can be a crucial factor in PTA negotiations. The claims of the paper are also supported by primary data obtained through the author’s personal interviews with European Union and USA trade officials and policy-makers (see Appendix).

The paper advances a new theoretical framework that takes a longer-term view on North-South trade relations, whereby, against the backdrop of the proliferating PTAs, first-order North-South agreements can raise the bargaining powers of Southern countries during subsequent North-South PTA negotiations, with strong implications for both developed and developing countries.

The paper is largely theoretical. A systematic empirical study of North-South PTAs will be required to validate or refute the theoretical framework advanced in this paper.

The paper introduces a new variable, namely the “order” of an agreement, which affects the logic of North-South PTA negotiations. Hence, the paper sets out a new theoretical framework that allows for a more accurate assessment of North-South power asymmetries and their effects on the outcomes of North-South PTA negotiations.

The purpose of this paper is to postulate the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on internationalization strategies of member countries’ firms. The study also aims to triangulate the proposed model using empirical data from PTA partner economies.

The mixed methods research design is used for the purpose of inquiry as suggested by Creswell. The inductive reasoning based on critical literature review and grounded theory methodology is used to postulate the model. Explanatory strength of the model is triangulated using empirical longitudinal trade data of Pakistan with her bilateral PTA partners, i.e. Malaysia, Mauritius, Iran, Sri Lanka and China. Internationalization indices are adapted following the Ietto-Gillies and London (2009) and Petri (1994) to measure the intensity and geographical diversification dimensions of internationalization. Country-level trade statistics are used as a proxy of firm-level data to explain the international expansion of home firms resulting from PTAs.

Empirical results confirm a strong and long-term impact of PTAs on the intensity and extensity dimensions of internationalization over post-agreement period in Pakistan and member economies. Gravity index depicts greater concentration of Pakistan's trade in FTA markets and thereby confirms the influence of PTAs on international market selection. Analysis at sectoral level depicts a contraction in services trade whereas expansion in the manufacturing firms’ export growth to member economies.

The paper extends the theory of internationalization by identifying PTAs as exogenous variable influencing internationalization strategies of member countries’ firms in a developing South Asian context. Coupled with findings from empirical data, the study identifies PTAs as a new strategic trade policy tool available to policy makers for promoting and influencing the home firms’ internationalization strategies.

China is a major energy import powerhouse, its trade deals have significant impact on international energy trade and global energy markets. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of energy in China’s preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and their impact on Chinese imports of oil, gas and coal.

An extended trade gravity model framework is applied to explore the dynamics of China’s annualized energy import flows from the 22 economies that have PTAs with it for the period 1995–2015.

The effect of PTAs on trade patterns varies across the product groups and agreement clauses. The dominant factor affecting trade flows of coal, crude oil and oil products is the average tariff level. Its impact is less significant for gas imports, which are more affected by policy arrangements represented by a PTA variable. The depth and scope of a PTA do not affect Chinese energy imports patterns.

This paper is focused on exploring the effect of China’s trade and foreign relations strategies on its energy imports through the prism of its PTAs. Estimating the direct impact of China’s initiatives in the areas of trade, investment, security, culture, etc., on its trade flows of energy products and other product groups using the methodological framework proposed in this study would contribute to better understanding of the issue.

The findings can assist both China and energy exporting countries that target Chinese market in better understanding the drivers of trade flows of energy products and design their PTA strategies accordingly.

This study applies the trade gravity model framework to assess the impact of specific components of preferential trade agreements – tariff reduction and depth and scope of agreement – on energy trade flows differentiated by product group.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of trade integration on Pakistan’s export performance (value of exports, number of exporters and number of products per exporter) during 2003 to 2010.

Data from the World Bank Exporters Dynamics Database are analysed using fixed effect panel data techniques.

The results suggest that trade integration with South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), China and Iran play remarkable role in improving export value by 73, 29 and 55 per cent, respectively. It is found that on average more than 140 and 339 exporters increase after integration with SAFTA and China, respectively, and during the study period, 1,605 and 606 exporters entered into SAFTA and Chinese market, respectively. Moreover, 182 and 146 additional exporters entered in Malaysian and Iranian export market after integration, which is 19 and 98 per cent, respectively, of initial year’s number of exporters. In addition, Malaysia and Mauritius show positive and considerable effect on diversification of product variety.

This is an original empirical research. The contributions of the paper are many fold: this paper is first to analyse the effect of Pakistan’s trade integration established during 2000s decade; pioneer contribution of this study is to use the number of exporters and number of products, as well as the value of exports to measure the export performance of Pakistan; and this study uses positive and negative discrepancies in export value data, number of HS6 products exported as a proxy of product diversification, share of industrial exports in total exports and share of textile exports in industrial exports.

Rules of origin (ROOs) are often cited as major trade barriers even after tariff barriers are removed with the formation of preferential trade agreement (PTA) as shown in a survey result that a large number South Korean firms in the textile industry give up utilizing tariff-free exports to the USA after the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) due to ROOs. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of ROOs on the equilibrium FTA regime and the welfare effects.

The authors determine the impact of ROOs on the equilibrium FTA regime based on an oligopolistic model where there are asymmetry in production technologies of intermediate goods and the capacity of outsourcing intermediate goods.

The authors demonstrate that ROOs are used as a protective trade policy against the FTA member country with an outsourcing option for technologically dominant intermediate goods.

The non-cooperative features of ROOs found in this paper necessitates the introduction of an international coordination mechanism to avoid the prisoners’ dilemma-type implementation of ROOs.

This paper provides a theoretical frame to analyze the protective effects of ROOs under PTAs.

The increased participation of economies in regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) has resulted in welfare effects. This chapter attempts to determine the welfare implications of preferential reductions in tariffs and free-trade zones on Afghan imports by adopting the Magee (2016) framework. This approach separates the consequences of tariff hikes triggered by FTAs from the general equilibrium effects (GEEs) caused by unknown variables impacting the country's imports (historical links, shared language and culture, landlockedness, etc.). This method evaluates whether preferential tariff reductions favouring partner countries would benefit or harm member countries. The results indicate that the magnitude of the effects of trade creation (TC) is significantly higher than those of trade diversion. TC resulting from GEEs unexpectedly surpasses TC resulting from tariff preferences extended to member nations. Afghanistan's FTAs are not harmful but enhance living conditions. This chapter recognises South Asian Free Trade Area’s (SAFTA's) potential for trade expansion by focusing on commitment to regional integration and increasing liberalisation by implementing a more easily upgraded tariff framework and trade facilitation system. The findings are relevant since World Trade Organisation (WTO) members are often sceptical about regional trade agreements (RTAs) or Bilateral Free Trade Agreements (BFTAs) as agents harming well-being.

Purpose – This chapter examines how preferential liberalization between a pair of countries affects the terms of trade and welfare of the liberalizing countries and on the rest of the world (ROW). We adopt a model with symmetric countries that generalizes previous work by relaxing assumptions on functional forms, which allows for the possibility that exports of member countries are complements for exports of the ROW.

Methodology/approach – This chapter uses general equilibrium welfare analysis for a three-country trade model.

Findings – We show that Kemp–Wan tariff adjustments require a decrease (increase) in the external tariff of members in a preferential trade agreement to accompany internal liberalization in the neighborhood of internal free trade when member goods are substitutes (complements) for non-member goods. However, the adjustment path of the external tariff to reductions in the internal tariff could be non-monotonic when preferences are not of the CES type.

Practical implications – Our results are of interest for the design of rules for multilateral trade agreements with respect to preferential liberalization, since they indicate how tariffs must be adjusted to eliminate negative impacts on non-member countries.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the national security exception will not allow governments to respond to cyberspace threats within the confines of the world trade organization (WTO) rules.

This paper is a desktop study of international trade laws with a specific focus on the convergence of cybersecurity measures and the national security exception provisions of the WTO.

The trends towards cybersecurity measures may mean there will inevitably be an evolution of trade norms. The question is, will the collective of the WTO be a part of the evolution, or merely an observer? In the authors’ view, it is crucial that it is the former.

This study makes three contributions. It provides a literature review and discussion on cybersecurity and the impact on trade. It demonstrates that the national security exception provision will not excuse these measures, and it aims to underscore the importance of the WTO as a community of nations where negotiation on important global issues is possible.

At its inception, the Doha Round offered the hope of a more inclusive World Trade Organisation (WTO); one where developing countries in particular envisioned would allow them the policy space to enable their socio‐economic advancement even as they carried out their obligations as Member States of the rules‐based international trade system. While the rewards of this novel development round are awaited, WTO Member States are making a marked shift away from the foundation principles of multilateralism on non‐discriminatory treatment, and pursuing independent trade deals outside the rules. An emerging acceptance of this shift comes with an idea that countries can converge after divergence – that alternatives to multilateralism can still yield agreements that will operate in a multilateral rules‐based framework, post Doha. To this end, this article reviews the challenges facing the Doha negotiations as it pertains to developing country concerns and the shortcomings of the existing development framework. It critically examines the issues arising from the stalemate of the Doha negotiations and the efforts of the international trading system to continue engaging in trade in the face of globalisation, increasing unemployment, decreased wages and living standards in the backdrop of a global recession. It examines the emerging convergence theory which recognises departures from the uniform trading arrangements under multilateralism, without recognising this as a tacit acceptance of a return to protectionism with its consequences. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Reference is made to primary and secondary research material on the subject including WTO rules and agreements.

The article finds that the stalemate in this Doha Round reveals more than just dissatisfaction between Member States on the nature and scope of the rules that must guide their global trading activities. It reveals the fragility of rules and the potential inefficacy of a system that attempts to regulate nebulous activity – trade in the face of divergent needs and concerns.

The research is library/desk based.

This work is an original contribution and is not under consideration elsewhere.