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Chapter 2
Free Trade and Protection

THE BASIS FOR FREE TRADE

International trade refers to the specialisation of production and the exchange of goods and services
between countries. Since different countries have different factor endowments (of land, labour, capital
and enterprise), the specialisation of production occurs, and expected gains will result if countries
engage in trading their surplus output. This occurs because output, prices and incomes will be more
competitive as a result of greater productive efficiency. Free trade occurs when there are no protective
barriers such as tariffs, quotas and subsidies which can divert trade, rather than create trade flows.
Nations engage in international trade as a means of specialising in production, increasing the productivity
of their resource use, and achieving a larger output and economies of scale than by pursuing self
sufficiency or autarchy. If the potential positive outcomes of free trade are achieved, a nation’s residents
will enjoy a higher standard of living than if the nation attempted to become self sufficient. Free
international trade is based on the principles of absolute and comparative advantage in production
which are outlined below. The rationale for world trade is based on two main factors:
1. The global distribution of economic resources or factor endowments is uneven; and
2. The efficient production of various goods and services requires different resource combinations and
technologies.

The Principles of Absolute and Comparative Advantage

The principle of absolute advantage was developed by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations (1776).
Absolute advantage is where a country, with a given level of resources, can produce more output than
another country with the same level of resources. An example of absolute advantage is illustrated in
Table 2.1 which shows the production possibilities for two countries, X and Y, in the production of
two goods, computers and wheat. The model makes the assumptions that there are only two countries;
they only produce two goods; and each country has the same level of resources. Country X can produce
either 300 computers or 800 tonnes of wheat with its resources, whereas Country Y can produce either
200 computers or 400 tonnes of wheat with its resources. If each country had 100 resources and
devoted 50 resources to the production of each good, total computer output would be 25,000 (15,000
+ 10,000) and total wheat output would be 60,000 tonnes (40,000 + 20,000) as shown in Table 2.1:
(i) If each country specialised in computer production by devoting all of its resources to computer
production, Country X could produce 300 units of computers, whereas Country Y could only
produce 200 units of computers. Therefore Country X has an absolute advantage in the production
of computers (300), since it can produce 100 more computers than Country Y (200).
Table 2.1: Production Possibilities for Countries X and Y

Computers Output Wheat Output

Country X 300 x 50 = 15,000 800 x 50 = 40,000

Country Y 200 x 50 = 10,000 400 x 50 = 20,000

Total Output 500

25,000 1200
60,000

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(ii) If each country specialised in wheat production by devoting all of its resources to wheat production,
Country X could produce 800 tonnes of wheat, whereas Country Y could only produce 400 tonnes
of wheat. Therefore Country X has an absolute advantage in the production of wheat.
Since Country X has an absolute advantage in the production of both computers and wheat, there is no
basis for international trade between the two countries. David Ricardo, in his Principles of Economics
and Taxation (1817), refined Adam Smith’s principle of absolute advantage. He argued that a country
could still engage in trade if it did not have an absolute advantage in production. By this he meant
that if a country was comparatively more efficient in the production of a good than another country, it
could engage in trade. David Ricardo’s principle of comparative advantage was based on the concept
of opportunity cost in production. If a country can produce a good with greater comparative efficiency
(as measured by a lower opportunity cost of production) it should specialise and engage in trade.
Comparative advantage refers to production at the lowest opportunity cost, and can be calculated in our
example by the opportunity cost of computer and wheat production in countries X and Y in Table 2.1,
to determine which country has a comparative advantage in the production of each good:
• The opportunity cost of computer production in Country X is 800/300 = 2.6 wheat
• The opportunity cost of computer production in Country Y is 400/200 = 2 wheat
• The opportunity cost of wheat production in Country X is 300/800 = 0.3 of a computer
• The opportunity cost of wheat production in Country Y is 200/400 = 0.5 of a computer
The opportunity cost co-efficients above are listed in Table 2.2. Country Y has a comparative advantage
in the production of computers since the opportunity cost is 2 wheat, whereas in Country X it is 2.6
wheat. Country X has a comparative advantage in wheat production since the opportunity cost is 0.3 of
a computer, whereas in Country Y it is 0.5 of a computer. Therefore Country Y should specialise in the
production of computers and Country X should specialise in the production of wheat. If each country
did this they could engage in international trade. Total computer output would be 20,000 (200 x 100
resources) and total wheat output would be 80,000 (800 x 100 resources). Therefore, according to
comparative advantage or specialisation, wheat output would increase by 20,000 tonnes, but computer
output would fall by 5,000 (i.e. compare the results for total output in Tables 2.1 and 2.2). This could
be overcome by Country X producing some computers but largely specialising in wheat production.
A reason for a country specialising in the production of goods in which it has a comparative advantage
(i.e. producing a good with greater comparative efficiency than another country) is that it may be able
to generate economies of scale in production. This means that with increasing output it may be able
to reduce the unit cost of production, and therefore sell its goods at a more competitive or lower price
in overseas markets. Economies of scale may result from the use of specialised land, labour, capital or
entrepreneurial resources in production. Different countries will have different factor endowments and
can utilise these according to their comparative advantage in different types of production. For example,
Australia has abundant land resources, including minerals and agriculture, which are important exports
in the balance of payments. Japan on the otherhand, has abundant capital and skilled labour resources,
which are used to manufacture and export high technology products such as cars to overseas markets.
Australia therefore exports natural resources to Japan and imports manufactured goods from Japan.

Table 2.2: Opportunity Cost Co-efficients for Countries X and Y

Computers Output Wheat Output

Country X 300 (2.6) 800 (0.3) x 100 = 80,000

Country Y 200 (2.0) x 100 = 20,000 400 (0.5)

Total Output 20,000 80,000

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Comparative Advantage and Production Possibility Curves

An alternative way of showing the specialisation of production according to comparative advantage is
to use production possibility curves (PPCs). Using the previous example, the production possibilities
in Countries X and Y for computer and wheat production are graphed in Figure 2.1. The PPC model
assumes that each country uses half of its resources to produce each good in order to be self sufficient.
Figure 2.1: Production Possibilities for Countries X and Y

Computers

150

100 Country X
Country Y

0 Wheat
200 400

Since Country X has an absolute advantage in the production of both computers and wheat, there is
no basis for international specialisation and trade between the two countries. However according to
the principle of comparative advantage, Country X is more efficient in producing wheat than Country
Y, since the opportunity cost of wheat production is 0.3 computers in Country X, compared to 0.5
computers in Country Y. Therefore Country X should specialise in wheat production and trade its
surplus with Country Y. Country Y is more efficient in producing computers than Country X, since the
opportunity cost of computer production is 2 wheat in Country Y, compared to 2.6 wheat in Country
X. Therefore Country Y should specialise in computer production and trade its surplus with Country Y.
Table 2.3: Production after Specialisation based on Comparative Advantage

Computer Output Wheat Output

Country X (all resources used to produce wheat) - 800

Country Y (all resources used to produce comp.) 200 -

Total Production 200 800

Production of computers and wheat after specialisation is illustrated in Table 2.3. Total production
after specialisation is 200 computers and 800 wheat. Computer production has fallen by 50 units
(from 250 to 200) but wheat production has risen by 200 units (from 600 to 800). Country X should
therefore produce some computers to make up the shortfall, but largely specialise in wheat production.
If country X produced 100 computers, computer production would rise by 100 to 300, and wheat
production would fall to 700. After trading their surplus output, both countries can consume more
computers and wheat (consumption gains) than by being self sufficient. This is illustrated in Table 2.4.
Table 2.4: Consumption Gains from Specialisation based on Comparative Advantage

Computer Output Wheat Output

Country X (100 + 100 imports) 200 (700 - 300 exports) 400

Country Y (200 - 100 exports) 100 (300 imports) 300

Total Production 300 700

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42 Chapter 2: Free Trade and Protection © Tim Riley Publications Pty Ltd

The Advantages of Free Trade

Countries may benefit from free trade due to the specialisation of the factors of production according
to the principles of absolute and comparative advantage. The potential gains from free trade include:
• Increased specialisation of production, leading to economies of scale through lower unit costs of
production (i.e. technical efficiency). This can result in greater levels of output and employment.
• Specialisation allows for a greater range of output, increasing the quantity and quality of goods and
services available to consumers who experience a rise in their real incomes and living standards.
• Increased productivity of resource use and a more optimal allocation of resources can lead to
greater allocative efficiency (i.e. where prices equal or reflect the marginal cost of production).
• Increased competition between firms in the tradable goods sector (exports and import substitutes)
of domestic economies can lead to lower consumer prices and higher real incomes.
• Producers have a greater incentive to innovate in production, through the use of the latest cost
reducing technology to increase their international competitiveness. This enhances the dynamic
efficiency of firms if they respond to changes in consumer demand and technology over time.
At a global or world level, the gains from free trade based on international specialisation can include:
• A more efficient allocation of the world’s resources according to comparative advantage;
• Higher world output and growth in world GDP due to economies of scale in production;
• Equalisation of resource prices in trading countries through greater competition;
• Higher national income and living standards generated by a multiplier effect of the growth in
export income as a percentage of gross domestic product (i.e. greater trade intensity); and
• Greater competition between domestic and foreign producers and the opportunity to generate
economies of scale in production, leading to lower prices of goods and services for consumers.
The Disadvantages of Free Trade
Although free trade has clear benefits in theoretical terms, it can lead to a number of disadvantages for
individual firms, the owners of productive resources (such as labour) and national or regional economies,
if markets are not perfectly competitive and resources are not perfectly mobile:

• Newly established firms in infant industries will find it difficult to compete against more efficient
and established foreign firms. Infant industries will take a longer time to achieve the economies of
scale needed to compete globally, and may go out of business before reaching an optimal scale of
plant or operations.
• Under conditions of free trade, the most efficient and competitive producers will attract resources
away from less efficient and less competitive industries, causing some regions to lose key industries
and experience unemployment. Job displacement in uncompetitive industries can lead to structural
unemployment and more regional inequality. As a result, governments will need to provide job
retraining schemes and welfare assistance to the structurally unemployed in affected industries.
• Free trade (with no government intervention) can lead to negative externalities if firms do not pay
for the unintended consequences of their production activities, such as higher levels of pollution,
the degradation of the environment, or the exploitation of labour in developing economies.
• Countries pursuing free trade strategies may not be able to diversify their economic base because they
specialise in production according to comparative advantage. For example, countries specialising
in agricultural exports may not have a high level of industrialisation, and therefore be increasingly
dependent on imports of manufactured, energy and capital goods from other countries.
• Free trade may lead to unfair price cutting, if countries which are more efficient producers of
agricultural or manufactured goods, sell their exports at below factor cost in foreign markets.

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This is known as the dumping of surplus output in export markets and may lead to higher
unemployment in import competing industries in other countries which cannot compete.
• A country pursuing free trade can often experience a sustained or persistent current account deficit
in the balance of payments, if it is unable to finance its import expenditure with its export income.
This may occur if domestic import replacement industries are relatively inefficient compared to
export industries. This argument was a basis for former US President Trump raising US tariffs on
some Chinese and EU imports in 2018-19 to correct US trade deficits with China and the EU.
Since the formation of GATT in 1947 and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994, there has
been a tendency for the levels of global protection to fall as more countries pursue free trade. Many
developing countries have joined the WTO in seeking further reductions in the protection of agriculture,
textiles, clothing and footwear by advanced nations (through tariffs, quotas and subsidies). Negotiations
to reduce protection in the WTO’s Doha Round began in 2001. There was however an upsurge in
global protection in 2008-09 in response to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Many countries used
protection to support employment in major industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and services.
However in a breakthrough Trade Facilitation Agreement in December 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya, the
WTO’s 164 members agreed to abolish all government subsidies to farmers between 2015 and 2018.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
THE BASIS FOR FREE TRADE
1. Define ‘free international trade’ and give an example of an international trade transaction.

2. Why do countries engage in international trade? What are the expected gains from international trade?

3. Using an example, explain what is meant by Adam Smith’s principle of absolute advantage.

4. Refer to Table 2.1 and explain why Country X has an absolute advantage in both computer and wheat
production over Country Y.

5. What is David Ricardo’s principle of comparative advantage? Refer to Table 2.2 and calculate the
opportunity cost of computer and wheat production for Country X and Country Y.

6. Refer to the following production possibilities for Australia and Japan:

Iron ore Cars

Australia 30 10
Japan 20 30

(a) Which country has an absolute advantage in iron ore and car production?

(b) Calculate the opportunity cost of iron ore and car production in Australia and Japan.
Which country has a comparative advantage in iron ore and car production?

(c) On what basis should Australia and Japan trade? What are the potential gains from free trade?

7. Define the following terms and add them to a glossary:

absolute advantage efficiency opportunity cost

comparative advantage factor endowments real income
diversification free trade resources
dumping gains from trade specialisation
economies of scale infant industries standard of living

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44 Chapter 2: Free Trade and Protection © Tim Riley Publications Pty Ltd

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AFFECTING TRADE

The most important international organisations that affect world trade, investment and financial
flows include the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
World Bank, the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD). The WTO is the main multilateral trade agreement which provides a forum for countries
to promote free trade and resolve trade disputes. The IMF is primarily responsible for lending funds
to countries which experience short term balance of payments, exchange rate or financial crises. The
World Bank’s main function is to promote economic development in developing countries through the
provision of grants, loans, aid and technical assistance. The United Nations (UN) has 192 member
states and through the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) promotes economic
growth and development along with free trade. The role of the OECD is to carry out economic research
and make policy recommendations to improve the economic performance of OECD member nations.
These global organisations promote policy co-ordination amongst countries and attempt to provide
rules for trade and investment transactions, and a forum for the discussion of trade related issues and
disputes. However many of the decisions made by organisations such as the WTO, IMF and World
Bank are considered to be controversial, since their power structures are controlled by major advanced
countries. Emerging and developing countries often criticise their policy decisions on the basis of unfair
treatment of the developing world through denying market access to advanced nations’ markets or the
stringent policy conditions imposed on developing countries receiving IMF or World Bank assistance.
In 2020 the negative real shock of the COVID-19 pandemic led the WTO, IMF and World Bank to
provide additional support to countries badly affected by the crisis. The WTO estimated world trade
volumes fell by -6.3% in 2020 before recovering by 9.4% in 2021. The Russian invasion of Ukraine
and Western sanctions imposed on Russia were forecast to reduce world trade growth by 4% in 2022.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
in 1995, and monitors developments in world trade and reviews barriers to world trade such as tariffs
and subsidies. The WTO had 164 members in 2022 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the
most important multilateral trade treaty governing the rules of world trade. In March 2021, Dr Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), the first woman and first African, was appointed the Director General of the
WTO. The basic guiding principle of the WTO, are the following:
• Non discrimination, which means that trade concessions granted to one member nation must be
extended to all member nations.
• Trade liberalisation, where the WTO works towards the elimination of all tariff and non tariff
barriers through a process of multilateral negotiations (trade rounds) between member countries.
• Stability of trading relations, where WTO mechanisms are set up to discuss and solve trade disputes
between countries such as the trade war between the USA and China in 2018-19 and Australia and
China in 2020-21.
• Transparency of trade agreements, where trade preferences between countries are open to scrutiny
and discussion in the WTO forum.
The Uruguay Round 1994
The eighth or Uruguay Round of GATT trade negotiations began in 1986, and was completed in 1993
in Geneva, and signed in 1994 in Marrakesh in Morocco. The 15 negotiating committees concentrated
on trade in areas where GATT rules did not previously exist. These included new agreements on:
• Trade in agriculture
• Trade in services or the GATT Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
• Trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS)
• Trade related investment measures (TRIMS)

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Figure 2.2: Percentage Changes in Simple Average MFN Tariffs

Source: Productivity Commission (2006), Trade and Assistance Review 2004-05, Melbourne.

For the Cairns Group of free trading agricultural exporters (including Australia), the major outcome of
the Uruguay Round was an agreement by the USA and EU to cut their agricultural subsidies by 2000:
• An average cut in all agricultural tariffs of 36%;
• Domestic support measures (i.e. subsidies) to be cut by 20%; and
• Export subsidies to be cut by 36% in budgetary terms, and 21% in quantitative terms.
Other measures in the Uruguay Round included reductions in beef and rice subsidies by the EU and
USA for exports to the Asian market over 1994-2000, and for Japan and South Korea to open their
domestic rice markets to imports. GATT also cut tariffs on trade in many industrial products.

The Doha Round in 2015

The ninth round of WTO talks began in November 2001 in the city of Doha in Qatar, and was known
as the Doha Development Round which had the intention of reducing global protection and achieving
free and fair trade. The main agenda items included the following:
• Further reductions in agricultural protection, that built on those in the Uruguay Round, where
agricultural subsidies were cut by an average of 30% between 1994 and 2001;
• Trade concessions from advanced countries to developing countries to give them more market
access for their agricultural and manufactured exports; and
• Measures to allow environmental and labour standards to be imposed on trade related activities.
WTO meetings in Cancun (Mexico) in 2003, and Geneva in July 2006, collapsed as the EU, USA
and developing countries such as China, India and Brazil failed to reach agreement on the reform
of agricultural trade. The WTO Ministerial meeting in Geneva in 2008 negotiated the formulae for
cutting tariffs and agricultural subsidies but there was an upsurge in protectionist sentiment during the
GFC in 2009 and the Doha Round was not concluded in 2010 as negotiations were suspended.
The ninth WTO Ministerial meeting in Bali in December 2013 progressed the Doha Round with
major decisions on trade facilitation, export subsidies and development issues. At the tenth WTO
Ministerial Meeting in Nairobi in December 2015, countries agreed to abolish all government subsidies
to farmers, including agricultural export subsidies. This was to be effective immediately for developed
nations with developing nations to follow by 2018. There was also an Agreement on Trade Facilitation
to streamline customs and border procedures. Due to the slow progress in finalising the Doha Round,
many countries reduced tariffs unilaterally in the 1990s and 2000s as shown in Figure 2.2. In many
cases Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs were reduced by more 50%, especially in the APEC region.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created by the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944 to
promote international financial stability. The IMF is based in Washington DC and had 190 member
countries in 2022. The IMF’s current primary mission is to ensure the stability of the international
monetary system based on the system of exchange rates and international payments in global trade:
1. The IMF conducts surveillance of member countries’ policies and global financial developments;
2. The IMF provides financial assistance to countries experiencing balance of payments problems; and
3. The IMF provides technical assistance and training to member countries.
The IMF was established with a pool of central bank reserves and national currencies which could be
made available, under certain conditions, to countries experiencing short term balance of payments
problems such as current account deficits, which were likely to be corrected over the short term.
Members of the IMF were allocated a quota of drawing rights based on their cash deposits, economic
size and stability. Voting rights were also allocated to each member country on this basis.
A new form of reserve asset with the IMF called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were introduced in the
1970s based on the value of the US dollar, enabling countries to obtain foreign exchange by drawing on
their own currency balances held by other IMF countries. The value of SDRs is determined by a basket
of five major currencies (the US dollar, Euro, the RMB, Yen and UK Pound) weighted according to each
country’s share of world trade and investment.
One of the key roles of the IMF is to provide financial assistance to countries experiencing temporary
balance of payments difficulties. For example, during the Asian currency crisis in 1997-98 the IMF lent
funds to Thailand, Korea and Indonesia. The IMF also lent funds in 1992 to Russia, Turkey, Argentina
and Brazil after these countries experienced financial crises after sovereign debt default.
During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2009 many developing and emerging countries had
difficulty in accessing private capital markets and sought access to IMF lending arrangements. The
IMF boosted global liquidity by increasing the issue of SDRs to member countries. At the April 2009
summit of the G20, leaders supported an increase in the allocation of SDRs by SDR183b. This raised
the global stock of SDRs from SDR21b to SDR204b helping to increase global liquidity. Around 21
countries accessed these new lending arrangements and the IMF doubled normal borrowing limits and
reduced the extent of the economic reforms normally required by the IMF of borrowing countries.
The GFC led to substantial changes to the IMF’s lending programmes with an increase in the size of
countries’ borrowings and the introduction of new credit and liquidity lines as shown in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Levels of IMF Credit and Borrowing 2004-2021 (f) (SDRb)

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia (2020), Statement on Monetary Policy, August, page 39.

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Between 2010 and 2012 the IMF provided financial assistance to countries in danger of sovereign
debt default in Europe such as Greece (SDR26.4b), Portugal (SDR23.7b) and Ireland (SDR19.4b).
Other countries in receipt of IMF financial assistance were Pakistan (SDR7.2b), Colombia (SDR3.8b),
Mexico (SDR47.2b) and the Ukraine (SDR4.7b). As of March 2017 the IMF had lent funds valued
at SDR426b (US$575b). The IMF’s five main responsibilities in the global economy are the following:
1. Promoting international monetary co-operation and global monetary stability;
2. Facilitating the expansion of international trade;
3. Promoting exchange rate stability;
4. Supporting the multilateral payments system; and
5. Making resources available to members experiencing balance of payments difficulties.
During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008-09 the IMF’s funds were insufficient to meet the
demand for credit by advanced, developing and emerging countries. In 2009 the G20 leaders committed
to tripling the IMF’s lending capacity to US$750b to deal with the GFC. The IMF played a major role
with the European Central Bank in lending funds to Greece, Ireland and Portugal at the height of the
European Sovereign Debt Crisis between 2010 and 2012. In 2020 during the height of the COVID-19
pandemic the IMF provided US$245b in financial assistance to more than 70 countries (see Figure
2.3). It also provided financial assistance to countries affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in
2022. Other IMF support included policy advice, technical assistance and negotiations over debt relief.

The World Bank

The World Bank, had 189 member countries in 2022, and is based in Washington DC in the USA. It
evolved from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) which was established
under the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944. The IBRD was set up initially to provide funding
for long term development projects in countries in Europe rebuilding their infrastructure which was
damaged or destroyed in World War Two. In 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic the World Bank
provided US$4b for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to 51 developing countries.
The World Bank focuses on long term development projects in developing or emerging countries by
providing financial and technical assistance, particularly to the poorest countries in Africa, Central and
South America, and South and West Asia. In 2016 it set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030:
• Ending extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than US$1.90 a day
to no more than 3%.
• Promoting shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country.
The World Bank also attempts to influence the design of economic policies in developing countries to
encourage foreign investment and development. In 2009 the World Bank called for advanced countries
to allocate 0.7% of their economic stimulus packages to a ‘Vulnerability Fund’ to help developing
countries to overcome the GFC and reduce the estimated 90m extra people in poverty due to the crisis.
The World Bank Group consists of five separate organisations, each with specific functions:
1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) provides low interest loans
and development assistance (foreign aid and grants) to developing countries;
2. The International Development Association (IDA) provides interest free or ‘soft loans’ to the
poorest developing countries;
3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) encourages economic development in developing
countries by supporting private investment projects;
4. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) supports private investment in developing
countries by providing guarantees to cover economic and political risks; and
5. The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) administers a process
for dispute settlement over investment projects involving host governments and private investors.

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Many developing countries are critical of the conditions imposed by the IMF and World Bank on
countries receiving financial assistance (i.e. the Conditionality Principle). These conditions may involve
a loss of autonomy over economic policy or directives on how assistance funds are spent. The IMF and
World Bank usually require governments in developing countries to implement structural reforms in
their economies to receive financial assistance. As the IMF and World Bank are controlled by advanced
countries, many developing countries interpret their policies as undermining their national sovereignty.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
which established a new set of 17 global goals known as the Sustainable Development Goals with an
associated 169 targets. These build on the former 8 goals and 18 targets of the Millennium Development
Goals but are wider in scope and far more ambitious in reducing global poverty as shown in Table 2.5.
Table 2.5: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning for all
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and employment for all
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation/innovation
Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss
Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all
and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable
Development

According to the World Bank in its World Development Report 2015 developing countries as a whole
met or had made substantial progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets in
2015. For example, developing countries as a whole met the MDG target of halving the proportion of
the population living in extreme poverty (on less than US$1.25 per day) with around 1b people being
lifted out of extreme poverty between 1990 and 2015 as shown in Figure 2.4.
Figure 2.4: Reduction of People Living in Extreme Poverty by Region 1990 to 2015

Source: World Bank (2015), World Development Indicators 2015, Washington DC.

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The OECD was formed in 1961 and had 38 member countries in 2022, with 22 from the EU (Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Spain and Sweden); and 16 non EU countries (Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iceland,
Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and USA).
The main objectives of the OECD are to promote sustainable economic and employment growth and
rising living standards in member countries, whilst maintaining financial stability, and contributing to
world economic development including trade and investment. The OECD is based in Paris, France,
and engages in research, consultation, co-operation and the co-ordination of a wide range of economic,
trade and development issues. It publishes regular reports (such as the OECD Economic Outlook) on each
member country’s economic performance and prospects. OECD members’ governments are committed
to maintaining democracy and a market system of economic organisation.
In 2008-09 the OECD promoted the use of monetary and fiscal stimulus by member governments to
prevent the Global Financial Crisis from reducing employment and living standards. In 2012 the OECD
promoted policies for crisis affected countries in the Euro Area to restore public finances; strengthen
their banking systems; and invest in knowledge based skills for future growth. In 2021 the OECD’s
policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to support the economic recovery by increasing vaccine
production and distribution; providing income support to workers; and maintaining government policy
stimulus. In 2022 the OECD condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and committed to helping
Ukraine with economic reconstruction and recovery and dealing with the humanitarian crisis.

The Group of Seven (G7)

The Group of Seven (1975) is a meeting of finance ministers and leaders from the seven largest
democratic industrialised market economies in the world: the USA, Japan, Germany, the UK, France,
Italy and Canada. Together they account for almost half of the world’s GDP, trade and financial flows.
The European Union (EU) is also represented within the G7. The G7 leaders met in Washington DC
in April 2008, and on February 14th 2009 in Rome, to discuss the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and
agreed to co-ordinate the use of monetary and fiscal stimulus and government bailouts of failed banks
to support public confidence and world economic activity. In March 2014 the G7 met in The Hague in
Holland and condemned Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty after the invasion of the Crimean
Peninsula (The Hague Declaration) and expelled Russia from the G8. The G7 leaders met in Japan in
May 2016 and Italy in May 2017 to discuss measures to support the global economic recovery.
The G7 meeting in Quebec, Canada, in June 2018 was controversial because US President Trump
refused to sign the G7’s joint communique endorsing free trade between members. He also warned US
trading partners not to counter his decision to impose tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminium
from China. At the G7 meeting in August 2019 in Biarritz, France, major G7 countries urged President
Trump to reach an agreement with China over trade differences. The G7 leaders’ meeting in 2020 in the
USA was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The G7 leaders’ meeting in Cornwall, UK, in
2021 (where Australia was an observer) resulted in the leaders opposing China’s unfair trade practices,
and called on China to respect human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and Taiwan’s sovereignty. The
G7 leaders’ meeting in Elmau, Germany, in June 2022, endorsed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of
Ukraine; called for co-ordinated global action on climate change; measures to ensure global food and
energy security; and continuing efforts to strengthen vaccine rollouts against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Group of Eight (G8) Summits 2005-2012
The Group of Eight was formerly known as the Group of Six (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United
Kingdom and the USA) which was established in 1975 as an annual leaders’ summit to discuss major
political and economic issues. In 1976 Canada joined the Group of Six and in 1997 Russia was admitted
to the group which became known as the Group of Eight.

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G8 meetings in 2007 and 2008 discussed possible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with
the G8 leaders adopting a 50% target in 2008 for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. At the
G8 Summit in May 2012 at Camp David, Maryland, USA, leaders agreed to greater fiscal discipline
to prevent the European Sovereign Debt Crisis from undermining global growth. In June 2014 the G7
leaders met in Brussels with Russia expelled from the G8 due to its violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty
after its invasion of the Crimean Peninsula. The G7 leaders’ meeting replaced the G8 thereafter.

The Group of 20 (G20) Summits between 2008 and 2021

The Group of 20 consists of the G8 countries plus 12 major advanced, emerging and developing countries
(i.e. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia,
South Africa, South Korea and Turkey). The Global Financial Crisis in 2008 led to urgent meetings of
G20 leaders that reflected the ‘new world economic order’ with the large emerging countries of Brazil,
Russia, India and China attending the G20 Summit in Washington DC in November 2008. The G20
leaders discussed measures to re-capitalise the world financial system, strengthen the regulation of global
financial markets, and the use of expansionary monetary and fiscal policies to support global growth.
At the G20 meeting in London in April 2009, leaders pledged US$1 trillion in loans and guarantees
to crisis affected countries and additional finance of US$250b of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for
the IMF to help countries with balance of payments or exchange rate crises. The G20’s objectives are:
1. Policy co-ordination between members to achieve global economic stability and sustainable growth.
2. Promotion of financial regulations that reduce risks and prevent future financial crises.
3. Creation of a new international financial architecture.
At the G20 meeting in Brisbane in 2014 the final communique stated a commitment for trade and
economic reforms to lift global economic growth by 2%. G20 meetings were held in Turkey in 2015
and China in 2016, with a focus on supporting world growth. At the G20 meeting in Hamburg in July
2017 all leaders (19) except US President Trump reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement
to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions. G20 leaders’ meetings were held in Buenos Aires in 2018
and in Osaka in 2019 where leaders urged the USA and China to resolve their trade dispute. In 2020
the G20 leaders’ meeting was hosted by Saudi Arabia as a virtual meeting, to discuss policy responses
to the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession. In 2021 at the G20 meeting in Rome, Italy, leaders
agreed to impose a 15% minimum tax on the profits of multinational corporations to minimise tax
avoidance, as well as measures to deal with climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AFFECTING TRADE
1. Discuss the guiding principles of the WTO. What were the results of the Uruguay Round of GATT
negotiations? How did Australia benefit from the outcomes at the Uruguay Round?

2. Discuss the agenda for the WTO’s Doha Round of trade talks. How did the Doha Round make progress at the
Ministerial Meeting in Nairobi in 2015?

3. Distinguish between the history and functions of the IMF and World Bank.

4. How did the IMF and World Bank assist countries during the Global Financial Crisis in 2009? How did the
IMF and World Bank assist countries during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21?

5. Why have the policies of the IMF and World Bank been criticised by developing countries?

6. Discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 set by the UN in Table 2.5.

7. Discuss the influence of the OECD, G7, G8 and G20 on the world economy and world trade.

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TRADING BLOCS, MONETARY UNIONS AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

Economic integration refers to the liberalisation of trade between two or more countries. This
liberalisation may lead to the formation of a free trade area, customs union, common market or monetary
union (refer to Table 2.6). The most important examples of global economic integration are the EU,
APEC, NAFTA (which is now called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA) and
ASEAN. The integration between these regional groupings of countries has resulted in a growing amount
of intra-regional trade and intra-industry trade, particularly in the European Union, East Asia and North
America. These three major regions dominate world trade. These changes have also been accompanied by
an increasing proportion of world trade carried out by multinational corporations (MNCs).
Trading blocs such as the EU (27 members) are when a group of countries join together in a formal
preferential trade relationship to the exclusion of other countries. Whilst they have free trade between
themselves they have adopted a common external tariff against imports from the rest of the world. A trading
bloc is only beneficial to the growth in world trade if there is trade creation rather than trade diversion
within regions. An important consideration is that there is no distortion of comparative advantage by
tariff and non tariff barriers. Within the EU, 19 countries are also members of a monetary union (the
Economic and Monetary Union or EMU) which use a common currency called the euro (the Euro Area).
They also have their monetary policy co-ordinated and conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Table 2.6: The Main Forms of Economic Integration

• A free trade area is where a group of member countries (e.g. the EU) abolish trade restrictions or barriers
between themselves but may retain restrictions against non member countries.
• A customs union is where member countries not only abolish trade restrictions between themselves but adopt
a common set of trade restrictions against non member countries (e.g. the EU).
• A common market involves the features of a customs union but also allows for the free mobility of labour and
capital between the common market countries (e.g. the EU).
• A monetary union has the features of a common market plus the adoption of a common or single currency
and the co-ordination of monetary policy through a single central bank (e.g the EMU). Fiscal, welfare and
competition policies may also be co-ordinated between member countries.

The three types of free trade agreements (FTAs) are bilateral (i.e. between two countries such as the
US-Australia Free Trade Agreement); regional/plurilateral (i.e. between many countries in a region or
in different regions such as APEC, NAFTA, ASEAN and the TPP); and multilateral (i.e. between many
countries in the global economy such as the WTO). Examples of these three types of trade agreements
are contained in Figure 2.5. Multilateral trade agreements such as the WTO (rather than bilateral or
regional agreements) are considered to be the most effective way of achieving trade liberalisation on a
global basis, because they are non exclusive, and can lead to trade creation rather than trade diversion.

Figure 2.5: Types of Free Trade Agreements

Types of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)

Multilateral Regional/Plurilateral Bilateral

GATT EU Australia-United States FTA
WTO APEC ANZCERTA
NAFTA/USMCA Japan-Australia EPA
ASEAN/TPP/RCEP China-Australia Trade Agr.

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The European Union (EU) - 27 Member Countries

The European Community (EC) was formed in 1959 by the Treaty of Rome, which established a
common market between the six founding members of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg
and the Netherlands. This involved the free mobility of goods, capital and labour between member
states. By 1969 these six countries had achieved a customs union through two major policy initiatives
known as the Common External Tariff (CET) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP):
• The EC countries abolished tariffs between members and erected a common tariff wall called the
common external tariff (CET) against non member countries. The CET made it difficult for non
EC countries like Australia and New Zealand to compete and gain access to EC export markets.
• The EC’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) involved the subsidisation of EC farm output,
which led to surplus production and lower world prices for commodities such as wheat, sugar and
dairy products. This policy led to a loss of markets and export income for Australian agricultural
exporters, forcing them to seek new markets in the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The EC moved from a common market to complete economic union under the Maastricht Treaty (voted
on by member countries) which came into effect in 1993 with seven years for implementation. The
name of the EC was changed to the European Union (EU), and an Economic and Monetary Union
(EMU) was achieved between 1999 and 2000, with the adoption of a single currency called the euro,
and monetary policy co-ordinated by the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt. Membership
of the EU grew to 15, with nine more countries joining the original six: Britain, Ireland, Denmark,
Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland and Sweden. Another ten countries (Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia), eight of
which were transition economies in former communist Eastern Europe, became members in 2004. In
2007 Bulgaria and Romania became EU members and Croatia joined in 2013. Total EU membership
was 27 countries in 2022 with Britain leaving the EU officially on January 31st 2020 as shown in Table
2.7. Nineteen of the EU countries use the single currency of the euro and are known as the Euro Area.
The major impetus for greater economic integration in the EU came in the 1990s because of the
increasing global competitiveness of the North American, Japanese and East Asian economies. Full
monetary union occurred in the EU in 1999, and meant that the euro replaced national currencies
for the 19 members who adopted a single interest rate, and foreign exchange and monetary policies
conducted by the European Central Bank. These 19 countries form the Euro Area or Eurozone. The
perceived advantages of a monetary union in the EU are the reduction in transaction costs by using a
single currency in business; greater potential economic stability; and improved economic performance.
Table 2.7: Member Countries of the European Union in 2022 (*the 19 Euro Area countries)

1. Austria* 11. Germany* 21. Portugal*

2. Belgium* 12. Greece* 22. Romania

3. Bulgaria 13. Hungary 23. Slovak Republic*

4. Croatia 14. Ireland* 24. Slovenia*

5. Cyprus* 15. Italy* 25. Spain*

6. Czech Republic 16. Latvia* 26. Sweden

7. Denmark 17. Lithuania* 27. The Netherlands*

8. Estonia* 18. Luxembourg* NB: The UK voted to leave

9. Finland* 19. Malta* the EU (Brexit) in June 2016

10. France* 20. Poland and left on 31.1.2020

Source: [Link] *The 19 Euro Area or Eurozone countries use the euro as a common currency

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The disadvantages of monetary union in the EU include the loss of national currency sovereignty,
and macroeconomic policy autonomy, and political opposition that arises if the economic benefits of
monetary union are not realised in member countries. The main features of the European Union are:
• Economic and political integration has led to common policies for member countries such as the
Kyoto Protocol (2004) and Paris Agreement (2015) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and the
Treaty of Lisbon (2007) to promote democratic government and sustainable development.
• The creation of a single European market through the removal of trade barriers has led to the free
movement of goods, services, people and capital between member countries.
• The single currency of the euro managed by the European Central Bank has created an Economic
and Monetary Union (EMU) in the EU. In 2002 euro notes and coins replaced national currencies
in 12 of the 15 EU countries, and the official interest rate in the EU was set by the ECB.
The EU had a combined population of 447m and its total GDP was US$17,046b in 2021. The EU
accounts for around 14.8% of world GDP and 14% of world trade, with trade between EU countries
(i.e. intra-regional trade) accounting for 64% of all EU trade. In 2008-09 the Global Financial Crisis
led to negative economic growth, rising unemployment rates and current account deficits in the EU.
A sovereign debt crisis occurred in the Euro Area in 2010-11 because of large budget deficits and
sovereign debts of the governments of Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. The crisis led to ‘financial
contagion’ in the Euro Area, with the ECB and the IMF providing a US$200b loan to Greece. Europe’s
finance ministers set up a rescue package in May 2010 of US$1,000b by creating a European Financial
Stability Facility. In 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic led to high levels of infections and deaths in most
EU countries. The EU entered a deep recession with high rates of unemployment. A stimulus package of
€1,800b was used by the European Commission to support EU economies during the recovery in 2021.
In 2022 the EU supported Ukraine’s application for membership of the EU. It imposed sanctions on
Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including an embargo on the purchase of Russian gas and oil.

The Brexit Vote to Leave the EU

In June 2016 Britain voted in a referendum to leave the EU (‘Brexit’) based on arguments to solve its
immigration, housing and welfare problems. The voting decision led to severe turbulence in global
financial markets, a lower Pound, uncertainty for businesses, and political instability in the British
parliament. Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon was invoked for Britain to leave the EU by 2018. UK
Prime Minister Theresa May faced severe opposition in implementing Brexit in 2018-19. She resigned
in 2019, with the new PM, Boris Johnson, negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU on 31st January 2020.

Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC)

Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) was formed in 1989 as a multilateral regional trade forum
to achieve closer trade and investment links. It has 21 member countries: the USA, Japan, Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, Brunei, Chile, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR, China,
Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Russia.
In 2021 APEC members accounted for 2.9b people, 60% of world GDP and 48% of world trade.
APEC members’ combined GDP was valued at US$46.9 trillion in 2018. The Bogor Declaration was
signed in November 1994 in Indonesia, with APEC leaders agreeing to dismantle trade barriers by 2020,
by implementing Individual Action Plans (IAPs) for trade liberalisation, and Collective Action Plans
(CAPs) for the regional facilitation of common standards, rules and procedures. Advanced countries
agreed to achieve the target of free trade by 2010, and the developing countries of APEC by 2020.
APEC’s major achievements to date are:
• Promoting regional economic integration and trade with annual APEC leaders’ meetings;
• Making it easier to conduct trade and do business across the borders of APEC countries;
• A review and streamlining of regional customs procedures to make them more efficient; and
• Structural reform of policies and regulations including IT and environmental sustainability.

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APEC does not impose a formal rules based structure like the EU or NAFTA (USMCA) on its members,
but conducts a series of forums for ministers and leaders, who formulate policy and allow industry based
working groups to collaborate on a wide range of trade, social and economic issues. APEC’s importance
to regional trade and economic development is its commitment to four major areas of reform:
1. Trade liberalisation within the region supplementary to, but consistent with WTO initiatives.
2. Trade facilitation in the region through the development of an Asia Pacific investment code; dispute
settlement procedures; macroeconomic policy co-ordination; mutual recognition of testing and
certification arrangements; and closer co-ordination of competition policy.
3. Technical co-operation to facilitate the development of physical and human capital resources.
4. Institutionalisation of APEC’s role through regular annual leaders’ meetings and an enhanced role
for members’ economic ministers in guiding the APEC process to achieve the Bogor goals.
APEC’s approach to economic integration and trade liberalisation is based on ‘open regionalism’ where
reductions in trade barriers are based on non discrimination, by liberalising trade between members,
but not discriminating against non APEC members. APEC’s initiatives are therefore consistent with
the WTO’s guiding principles for free trade. Between 1989 and 2012 APEC economies reduced their
tariffs from an average 17% to 5.2%, and trade increased over seven times.
At the APEC meeting in Lima, Peru in 2008, leaders committed to achieving the Bogor Goals;
promoting recovery from the global slowdown; and the creation of a future Free Trade Area of the
Asia Pacific (FTAAP). At the APEC meeting in 2009 in Singapore, leaders responded to the GFC by
strengthening trade and investment links within the APEC region (i.e. regional economic integration)
and opposing protectionism. The APEC meeting in Yokohama, Japan in 2010, reaffirmed support for
the Bogor Goals; concluding the Doha Round; the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC); and taking steps to establish the FTAAP.
The APEC leaders met in Bali in October 2013 under the theme, Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Growth,
and committed to achieving the Bogor Goals by 2020. In 2014 in Beijing the APEC leaders met under
the theme of Integrated, Innovative and Interconnected Asia. In 2015 the APEC leaders met in Manila,
under the theme of Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World. In November 2016 in Lima,
Peru, the APEC leaders’ theme of Quality Growth and Human Development supported free trade. In
2017 APEC leaders met in Da Nang, Vietnam, under the theme of Creating New Dynamism, Fostering
a Shared Future. In 2018 APEC leaders met in Port Moresby with the theme of Harnessing Inclusive
Opportunities, Embracing the Digital Future. The 2020 APEC leaders’ meeting in Malaysia was held as
a virtual meeting where policies were discussed to combat and mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. In 2021 another virtual APEC leaders’ meeting was held in Wellington, New Zealand, where
the Aotearoa Plan was unveiled under the theme of Join, Work, Grow Together.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - USMCA

Following the Canadian-United States Trade Agreement (CUSTA) of 1988, the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) linked the developed countries of the USA and Canada with the developing
country of Mexico. NAFTA negotiations commenced in 1991 and the agreement was formally signed by
the participants in 1992 and came into force in 1994. NAFTA helped to integrate the North American
market by eliminating tariff and other barriers to trade and investment, in creating a market equivalent
in size to the EU. For the USA and Canada it provided an opportunity to increase their international
competitiveness by exploiting lower production costs in Mexico. For Mexico, the advantage of the free
trade area was greater access for its exports to the large and high income US and Canadian markets.
Whilst NAFTA created the largest trade bloc in the world after the EU, opponents of NAFTA argued
that the agreement would cause trade diversion rather than lead to trade creation, since there would be
an incentive for industries and firms to relocate to Mexico where labour was cheaper. There were also
concerns that non member countries might locate in Mexico, to access Canadian and US markets and

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avoid tariffs and other barriers imposed by the USA and Canada on imports. In 1993 NAFTA was
endorsed by the US Congress, with proponents arguing that the benefits to the US economy would
be substantial. Rules of origin were established to avoid the problem of trade diversion. The rules of
origin are used to determine if imported goods are entitled to tariff free treatment through the extent
of value adding activity of products in a NAFTA member country, according to the following criteria:
• If they are wholly produced in the region;
• If they are produced from materials that originate in the region according to the rules of origin
governing regional content;
• If the non originating materials used in their production have been subjected to special tariff
provisions that treat them as finished goods (e.g. finished goods are subject to higher tariffs than
intermediate goods); and
• If they satisfy a regional content requirement, which is usually a percentage of the total value added
in the production of a good.
Major industries benefiting from NAFTA’s elimination of trade barriers include agriculture, automobiles,
energy, petrochemicals, financial services, transport and intellectual property. NAFTA is now the
world’s largest trade bloc in terms of GDP in PPP terms which was estimated at US$24,800b in 2018.
Merchandise trade between the NAFTA partners was estimated to have tripled, reaching US$1,100b
in 2016. In 2001 governments from 34 nations in North, Central and South America agreed to work
towards the formation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) which would expand the scope of
NAFTA. However negotiations over the FTAA have not progressed to date.
Overall NAFTA has led to significant specialisation and trade creation between the USA, Canada and
Mexico, with increased manufacturing in Mexico and increased raw material exports from the USA
and Canada. However there is evidence of some de-industrialisation and loss of employment in the
Canadian and US manufacturing sectors through the relocation of some industries to Mexico. A North
American Agreement on Labour Co-operation (NAALC) was signed to address this problem. Also the
North American Agreement on Environmental Co-operation (NAAEC) was signed in 1994 to address
concerns over NAFTA’s impact on environmental sustainability. In 2019-20 US President Donald
Trump renegotiated the terms of NAFTA with Mexico and Canada that were more favourable to the
USA. The new agreement known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) came
into force on July 1st 2020 and replaced NAFTA but only with minor changes favourable to the USA.

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed in 1967 by the five countries of
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. ASEAN promotes economic growth and
development, social progress and cultural development amongst member nations. Since 1967, Brunei,
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar have joined ASEAN, making it an important regional trade
forum, which is administered by a Ministerial Council comprised of the foreign ministers of the ten
member countries. ASEAN initiatives include fostering commerce and industry links, consultation on
banking and finance, and dialogues with regional groupings such as NAFTA, APEC and the EU.
In 1992 a major development at the fourth ASEAN summit was the formation of the ASEAN Free Trade
Area (AFTA) by 2003. The goal was to enhance global competitiveness by strengthening intra-regional
trade ties between members. This would allow for greater regional specialisation and economies of scale
and attract more foreign investment into the region. Members agreed to work towards a reduction in
tariffs to 5% on products accounting for 80% of intra-ASEAN trade. ASEAN is an important regional
trade grouping to Australia, since it is a major export market for resources, manufactured goods and
business services, and a source of imports such as petroleum, timber and light manufactured goods.
Australia attended the East Asia Summit in Laos in 2005 and applied to join AFTA. In an historic
decision, economic ministers from ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand signed the ASEAN-Australia-
New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) Agreement in Thailand in February 2009.

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In 2007 in Singapore, ASEAN leaders adopted the Cebu Declaration to establish an ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) by 2015 through further reductions in tariff and non tariff barriers. This would
transform ASEAN into a region with the free movement of goods, services, skilled labour and more
capital mobility between members. ASEAN leaders at the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur in
November 2015, adopted the AEC Blueprint to guide the ASEAN integration process between 2016
and 2025. The 30th and 31st ASEAN Summits was held in the Philippines in 2017 to discuss the
Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 to progress regional integration.
ASEAN is a major free trade area or region, and had a combined population of 661m in 2020, an annual
GDP of US$2,997b, annual trade of US$2,591b, and annual foreign direct investment of US$137.3b.
In 2020 ASEAN was the third largest economy in Asia after China and India. In 2020 a Special ASEAN
Summit was held in Vietnam to co-ordinate health policies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. In
2021 the ASEAN Summit in Brunei Darussalem affirmed support for regionalism and multilateralism.

Bilateral Free Trade Agreements

The slow progress in concluding the Uruguay Round of GATT’s multilateral trade talks and the impasse
reached in finalising the WTO’s Doha Round has led to the rapid growth in bilateral trade agreements or
Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) between countries. Examples include the Australia New Zealand
Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA, 1983), the Singapore-Australia Free Trade
Agreement (2003), the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (2005), the Australia-Thailand Free Trade
Agreement (2005), and new agreements with Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia and India in 2014-15
and 2022. Globally, over 400 such agreements have been signed by countries in reducing trade barriers.
PTAs provide more flexibility in promoting free trade and may enhance regional free trade as is the case
in ASEAN and APEC which can then be multilateralised in the future through WTO negotiations.
However the disadvantages of PTAs are that they can undermine the key ‘Most Favoured Nation’
principle of WTO rules and multilateral global trade liberalisation. PTAs can divert trade from the
most efficient countries and entrench support from the beneficiaries of PTA discrimination for less
ambitious multilateral trade reform in the WTO. PTAs can also divert resources away from their most
efficient uses and introduce trade distorting preferential tariff rates and rules of origin. Whilst PTAs
have their place in promoting bilateral trade, more substantial trade liberalisation is likely to result from
multilateral negotiations in the WTO between advanced, emerging and developing countries.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
TRADING BLOCS, MONETARY UNIONS AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
1. What is meant by economic integration? Refer to Table 2.6 and distinguish between a free trade area,
customs union, common market and a monetary union.
2. Explain the difference between trade diversion and trade creation.
3. Discuss the formation of the European Community and its evolution to the European Union under the
Maastricht Treaty. What are the benefits and costs of the EU and EMU? Discuss the impact of the European
Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Brexit decision on the EU and EMU.
4. How does APEC attempt to liberalise trade? Explain the significance of the Bogor Declaration in 1994. How
is APEC a different form of regional economic integration to the EU and NAFTA?
5. Explain how NAFTA was formed. What advantages and disadvantages does NAFTA provide for the USA,
Canada and Mexico? Why was NAFTA re-negotiated by US President Trump?
6. Explain the importance of ASEAN and the formation of the AEC in liberalising Asian trade.
7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of bilateral trade agreements.

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THE REASONS FOR PROTECTION

The potential gains from international trade arise from the assumption that free trade between countries
takes place in the absence of government protection. Free trade occurs when there are no artificial
barriers imposed by governments on the free flow of goods, services and resources between international
markets. Free trade relies upon the interplay of market forces to secure the benefits of efficient resource
allocation, greater competition (from international specialisation and exchange) and higher living
standards for consumers. However in the real world, many national governments protect their domestic
industries from international competition by imposing restraints on trade such as tariffs, subsidies,
quotas, local content rules, embargoes and export incentives. The increase in tariffs by the USA and
China on a range of each others’ imports in 2018-19 is a recent example of rising protectionism.
Multilateral trade agreements such as the WTO involve member countries attempting to reduce or
eliminate such barriers to trade through the Uruguay (1994) and Doha Rounds (2015) of trade talks, in
order to improve market accessibility and the growth of world trade and living standards.
Protection refers to any artificial advantage given by countries’ governments to domestic industries
to protect them from international competition. Protective devices include both tariff and non tariff
barriers (NTBs) to trade. The major forms of protection include tariffs (i.e. taxes on imports), subsidies
(i.e. cash payments to producers and exporters), bounties, quotas, embargoes, local content schemes,
technical standards, government procurement programmes, voluntary export restraints (VERs) and anti-
dumping legislation. Both economic and non-economic arguments are used to justify the protection
of domestic industries from international competition. The following are the five major economic
arguments used to justify government protection of domestic industries from import competition:
1. The protection of infant industries is based on allowing newly established industries sufficient
time to achieve economies of scale to compete in global markets. It is argued that only ‘temporary
protection’ from imports is needed until the infant industry is able to become internationally
competitive. However investing in infant industries may be inefficient, as firms receiving protection
may become reliant upon it, and lack the incentive to innovate. Despite protection, infant industries
may remain uncompetitive and inefficient by world standards for long periods of time.
2. The protection of employment during a recession is used as an economic argument to justify
protection. Proponents of this view argue that ‘importing goods exports jobs’ during a
recession. Erecting tariff walls to protect import competing industries may increase their relative
competitiveness, share of production and employment. However, protection of these industries
may be at the expense of employment in efficient export industries, and foreign countries may also
retaliate with similar schemes to protect their domestic employment. Reducing imports through
trade barriers may also raise the exchange rate and reduce the competitiveness of export industries.
3. Protection against the dumping of imports below factor cost is an economic argument often
used to erect barriers to trade. It presupposes that imports are being sold below the cost of
production, which is sometimes difficult to prove. Proponents may in fact confuse increased
foreign competitiveness with an attempt to dump cheaper goods on the home market.
4. The terms of trade argument for protection maintains that a large country can use protection to
improve its terms of trade. A tariff may decrease the country’s demand for imports, and if the
country buys a significant proportion of the world supply, it may encourage foreign producers to
reduce prices to offset falling sales revenue. This would improve the home country’s terms of trade
and the welfare of its residents. However, such an argument ignores the possibility that the foreign
country may also impose a retaliatory tariff on the home country’s exports, nullifying the positive
effect of the initial imposition of the tariff on imports. This is known as the reciprocity argument.
5. Reducing a balance of payments deficit is cited as an economic argument for imposing protection
e.g. former US President Trump defended the increase in tariffs on Chinese imports as a way of

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reducing the large US trade deficit with China. This was based on US consumers switching their
expenditure from imports to domestically produced goods. This policy could have adverse effects,
because specialisation is not encouraged according to comparative advantage. Resources may be
diverted to less efficient domestic industries, and export and import competing industries and
consumers pay higher prices for imports, reducing competitiveness and living standards.
Other arguments used to justify protection may be based on non economic grounds, and seek
to promote political, social or cultural goals. These include the military self-sufficiency or defence
argument (where national defence industries are protected to ensure war-time supply); and the national
spending argument such as the ‘buy Australia’ campaign which encourages expenditure switching from
imports to domestic goods, irrespective of prices and quality. Associated with this argument is the desire
to protect national sovereignty and Australia’s cultural identity such as subsidising local films, television
and the entertainment industry. Other arguments for protection include the diversification of industry;
using protection as a strategic industry policy to ‘pick winners’ since the world trading environment is
not considered to be a ‘level playing field’ because it is dominated by MNCs and trading blocs; and to
increase government revenue through the imposition of higher tariffs on imports.

THE METHODS OF PROTECTION: Tariffs, Subsidies and Quotas

Both tariff and non tariff barriers are used to protect domestic industries. Tariffs are a tax on imports
through the payment of customs duty. The payment of customs duty by an importer has the effect of
raising the landed price of imported goods. Local producers can then raise their prices and compete
more effectively with imports by capturing and maintaining a larger share of the domestic market than
would occur in the absence of protection. Tariffs raise revenue for the government and cause resources
to be reallocated from efficient and competitive industries to inefficient and uncompetitive industries.
The effects of a tariff on a traded good are illustrated in Figure 2.6. The domestic demand and supply
curves, DD and SS intersect at E to give an equilibrium price of OP and quantity of OQ. The world
or free trade price for the product is OW. At the world price OW, domestic firms only supply OQ1 but
consumers demand OQ2. The shortfall in domestic supply in relation to domestic demand, is made up
by imports of Q1Q2. If the government imposes a tariff equivalent to OT (OWOT - OW), domestic
supply will extend from OQ1 to OQ3, but domestic demand will contract from OQ2 to OQ4. Therefore
imports will contract from Q1Q2 to Q3Q4. The four direct effects of the tariff are the following:

Figure 2.6: The Effect of a Tariff

P
D S
Price
effect

Redistribution effect E Revenue effect

P

OWOT a b
tariff
OW
c d
S D

0 Q
Q1 Q3 Q Q4 Q2

Protection Consumption
effect effect

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1. The price of the traded good rises from OW to OWOT, causing inflation and a loss in consumers’
real incomes, as higher prices are paid for both imports and domestic goods (i.e. the price effect).
2. The quantity of imports falls from Q1Q2 to Q3Q4, and is displaced by locally produced goods (OQ1
to OQ3) which may or may not be of the same quality or preferred to imports by consumers, since
they are more expensive (i.e. the consumption and protection effects).
3. The government receives tariff revenue equivalent to the shaded rectangle abcd, which is equal to
the tariff of OT multiplied by the quantity of imports of Q3Q4 (i.e. the revenue effect).
4. There is a redistribution of income away from importers and consumers to the government and
local producers. Resources are reallocated from importers to local producers, who improve their
welfare at the expense of consumers and importers (i.e. the redistribution effect).
Subsidies are cash payments made to local producers to increase supply in the face of import competition.
The effects of a subsidy are illustrated in Figure 2.7. Curves DD and SS represent domestic demand
and supply respectively, with the equilibrium price at OP, and the equilibrium quantity at OQ. The
price OP1 is the world or free trade price for the traded good. At price OP1 domestic producers supply
OQ1 but domestic demand is OQ2. The market shortage of Q1Q2 at price OP1 is made up by imports.
If a subsidy equivalent to AB is paid to local producers, they will be able to increase supply from
SS to S1S1, and be willing to charge the lower world price of OP1, and supply more goods at OQ2,
thereby eliminating the need for imports. Subsidies are preferable to tariffs because they are paid for
from progressive taxation, are more subject to regular review, and lead to lower prices. However they
distort resource allocation and redistribute income away from taxpayers to the subsidised industry.
Continuation of subsidies may also raise government expenditure and increase the taxation burden.
Subsidisation of inefficient industries causes a misallocation of resources, since inefficient industries
are favoured over efficient industries that are competitive in the market without government subsidies.
Bounties are similar to subsidies since they are cash payments to producers, but are paid on a per unit
basis. For example, farmers may receive a bounty of $50 for each tonne of wheat produced.
Quotas are a quantitative restriction on certain categories of imported goods. The larger (smaller)
the import quota the greater (lesser) the quantity of goods that may be imported and the less (more)
the protection effect. Importers usually apply for an import licence to receive a quota and may lobby
the government for the quota to be increased if local demand is high, whereas domestic competing
industries would lobby the government for a reduction in the import quota to gain more protection.

Figure 2.7: The Effect of a Subsidy

P
D S
S1

A increase in supply
P Subsidy

P1

B
S
S1 D

0 Q
Q1 Q Q2

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The effects of a quota are shown in Figure 2.8. Curve DD is domestic demand for the imported good
and S is the import quota or the supply curve. The price of the good is OP and if the quota is reduced
(i.e. the movement from S to S2) the quantity of imports will fall from Q to Q2 and the price of the
imported good will rise to OP2 leading to greater protection for domestic industry. Increased protection
through quota reductions has a similar effect to the imposition of a tariff. If the quota is increased (e.g.
the movement from S to S1), the price of the imported good will fall to OP1, leading to lower levels of
protection for the domestic industry. Tariff quotas combine the effects of a quota and a tariff. Quotas
are imposed on imports up to a certain quantity and then a tariff is also levied, further raising the price
of imports. Another protective device similar to a quota is a voluntary export restraint (VER), where
a country (e.g. Japan) agrees to limit its exports to another country (e.g. the USA), to reduce its trade
surplus with that country. VERs have been used by the USA to limit the export of Japanese motor
vehicles and electronic goods to the US market to protect US manufacturing firms and employment.
Local content rules refer to government procurement policies and industry plans, where a certain
percentage of inputs or outputs must be manufactured within Australia. Examples include local content
rules under the former Button Car Plan and local content specifications for government contracts.
Technical discrimination is when a government imposes certain minimum technical standards on
imported goods. Importers must comply with safety, health, quality and packaging standards before
the imported goods can be offered for sale in the domestic market. Quarantine regulations are another
means by which the government may restrict imports by enforcing health and agricultural regulations
on importers of food, vegetable, plant and animal products into Australia. Embargoes are the complete
prohibition of the import or export of certain goods. Examples of prohibited imports into Australia
include firearms and illegal drugs. Australia also used to ban the export of Merino rams, as their sale to
overseas producers was seen as a threat to the Australian wool industry through increased competition.
Export and tax incentives such as export subsidies in the US and EU or the Export Market Development
Grant Scheme (EMDG) used in Australia, attempt to reduce the costs of production for exporters by
allowing a tax deduction for expenditure incurred in developing export markets. The USA and EU
both use domestic and export subsidies effectively to reduce the prices of their agricultural exports.
This has led to US and EU farmers gaining a larger share of the world wheat and sugar markets, at the
expense of efficient producers like Australia and other Cairns Group countries which do not subsidise
their agricultural exports. Agricultural subsidies depress world farm prices and reduce market access.

Figure 2.8: The Effect of a Quota

P decrease S2 S S1
in quota increase in quota

P2

P1

D
0 Q
Q2 Q Q1

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THE EFFECTS OF PROTECTION ON THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY

Local industries and firms receiving protection gain in the short term because they are able to raise prices,
increase output and maintain or increase their market share. The macroeconomic effects of protection
are felt in the medium to long term as the effective rate of assistance (i.e. the percentage of local
value added given in protection) impacts on resource allocation and income distribution. The major
macroeconomic effects of protection on a domestic economy are negative. For example, in Australia
resources are misallocated because they are directed away from efficient and competitive industries such
as agriculture and mining and into inefficient and uncompetitive industries such as passenger motor
vehicles (PMV), steel, and textiles, clothing and footwear (TCF). Employment and production grow
in inefficient industries that are supplying only the domestic market, and not exporting to the global
market. Capital resources are also wasted, and the returns to all the factors of production will necessarily
be lower than they would be if they were allocated to their most efficient uses in the economy.
Inflation may result from the distorting effect of tariffs on import prices, which can be passed into the
domestic cost and price structure. This may lead to additional wage demands by employees to maintain
their real wages. Those industries using the outputs of protected industries as inputs in their production
process (such as imported capital and intermediate goods) will pay a higher price for these goods because
of tariffs. Efficient export industries such as mining and agriculture are penalised by paying higher
prices for capital equipment, and since they cannot pass on these costs in world markets as they are
‘price takers’, their competitiveness may be reduced. This effect is known as negative protection.
Economic growth is restricted by protection because resources are not being used efficiently in protected
industries. Capital and labour may not be utilised intensively, if output is geared only to the small
domestic market in Australia, where it is difficult to reap economies of scale in production.
Export earnings are lower than optimal since protected industries tend not to seek overseas markets
because they focus on the domestic market and are usually risk averse. Coupled with this, is the lack of
competitiveness with imports despite protection. Import spending in Australia is highly income elastic
and growth in domestic income leads to ‘import binges’ which can create a large current account deficit.
Australia’s export growth and share of world trade have therefore been impeded by protection.
The microeconomic effects of protection tend to be negative on the performance of protected industries.
The Australian car and textile industries for example, engaged in ‘rent seeking’ behaviour where resources
were devoted to the unproductive activity of lobbying the Australian government for the maintenance
or increase in existing levels of protection. Rather than these resources being used to boost efficiency,
exports and profitability, many protected firms continued to spend funds on political lobbying. The
management and labour forces in protected industries used outdated work practices and had low levels
of productivity. Furthermore, the willingness of protected industries to innovate by adopting the latest
cost reducing technology was minimal, because they were not exposed to the competitive forces of the
international market place. The culture of protection bred an inefficient and inward looking Australian
manufacturing industry not willing to adapt to changes in consumer preferences and technology.

The Effects of Protection on the Global Economy

World trade, particularly trade in agricultural commodities (such as wheat, dairy and sugar) has been
restricted because of the proliferation in non tariff barriers (NTBs), especially the use of farm and export
subsidies in the EU, USA, Japan and Korea. Agricultural subsidies reduce Australia’s net farm export
income by depressing world agricultural prices and by denying market access to Australian farm exports.
For example, Australia, like other Cairns Group countries, is an efficient wheat producer, not reliant on
wheat subsidies to be internationally competitive, unlike US and EU wheat farmers. The use of wheat
export subsidies by the EU and USA lowers the price of their agricultural exports and therefore depresses
world prices and denies market access to more efficient producers like Australia and the Cairns Group.

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Figure 2.9: The Effect of US and EU Wheat Subsidies on Australia

Panel A: World Wheat Market Panel B: Australian Wheat Exports

P P
S S1
D S

Loss of revenue
Global Subsidy
P a A B
D
P1 D1
C D
b

S D
S1 S
0 Q 0 Q
Q Q1 Q4 Q3

The effect of wheat subsidies through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the USA’s
Export Enhancement Programme (EEP) on Australian wheat farmers is illustrated in Figure 2.9. As
a perfect competitor in the world wheat market, Australia has to accept the market price for wheat
determined by world demand (DD) and supply (SS) i.e. price OP in Panel A of Figure 2.9. The effect
of a wheat export subsidy of ab is to increase world wheat supplies from SS to S1S1, causing the world
wheat price to fall from OP to OP1 as shown in Panel A of Figure 2.9. This reduces the supply of
Australian wheat on the world wheat market from Q3 to Q4 and the total revenue (i.e. price x quantity)
to Australian wheat farmers falls from rectangle OABQ3 to rectangle OCDQ4 in Panel B of Figure 2.9.
The Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations was held between 1986 and 1994 and resulted in an
agreement by the EU and the US to cut their agricultural subsidies by up to 36%. The Doha Round
led to the WTO’s 164 members voting to end all farm subsidies in Kenya in December 2015. Despite
this breakthrough, global trade barriers impose large costs on developing and advanced economies.
They limit the exports of agriculture and textiles in which developing economies have a comparative
advantage. For advanced economies the removal of agricultural and manufacturing protection would
improve consumer welfare and real incomes through the purchase of lower cost products in markets.

The Rise in US Protection in 2018-19

Support for globalisation and free trade weakened in the USA in 2018-19 under President Trump.
Free trade agreements such as NAFTA were renegotiated and Trump removed the USA from the Trans
Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The USA increased tariffs on imported solar panels and washing
machines, and announced a 25% tariff on steel, a 10% tariff on aluminium and a range of other Chinese
products, while China announced retaliatory tariffs on imports from the USA. An increase in tariffs and
non tariff barriers could lead to a global trade war, reducing confidence, disrupting global supply chains,
and slowing the spread of new technologies, leading to lower global productivity and investment.
Greater protectionism would also lower consumer welfare by making tradable consumer goods more
expensive. IMF research in 2018 indicated that rising protectionism in all countries could lead to a
10% increase in import prices and lower global output and consumption by about 1.75% after five
years and by 2% in the long term, while global investment and trade could fall by even more. Moreover,
curbs on immigration would prevent ageing societies from effectively counteracting trend declines in
labour force growth rates in advanced countries. Widening external imbalances in some countries,
including the USA, which has trade deficits with China, the EU and other trading partners, could add
to increased protectionist pressure. Increased protection can lead to further damaging retaliatory action
and also make it more difficult for countries to deal with international real and financial shocks.

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Table 2.8: Post Uruguay Round Tariffs & Reductions in Selected Countries & Groups
European Union United States Poor Countries Rich Countries

Product Category Tariff Reduction Tariff Reduction Tariff Reduction Tariff Reduction

Agriculture 15.7% -5.9% 10.8% -1.5% 17.4% -43.0% 26.9% -26.9%

Textiles 8.7% -2.0% 14.8% -2.0% 21.2% -8.5% 8.4% -2.6%

Metals 1.0% -3.3% 1.1% -3.8% 10.8% -9.5% 0.9% -3.4%

Chemicals 3.8% -3.3% 2.5% -4.9% 12.4% -9.7% 2.2% -3.7%

Source: UNDP (2003), Human Development Report, Oxford University Press, New York.

Table 2.8 shows the average tariff reductions for four product categories for the EU, United States, poor
countries and rich countries since the Uruguay Round of GATT was completed in 1994. Most rich
countries apply higher tariffs to agricultural goods and simple manufactures (e.g. textiles), which are the
types of goods that developing countries can produce and export cheaply to world markets.
In agriculture the tariffs of OECD countries are heavily biased against low priced farm products produced
by developing countries. Tariffs against developing countries’ manufactures also remain high. In the
1990s the average OECD tariff on manufactured goods from the developing world was 3.5%, more than
four times the average of 0.8% on OECD manufactures. Whilst there have been tariff reductions in
agriculture, textiles, metals and chemicals since the Uruguay Round, there remains greater scope for tariff
reductions in the EU and the United States for agricultural goods. This also applies to reductions in quotas
and export subsidies for agricultural goods in these countries. For developing countries a major aim in the
Doha Round was to achieve cuts in tariffs on other labour intensive exports such as textiles. Progress was
made in abolishing farm export subsidies by 2018 at the WTO’s Ministerial Meeting in 2015 in Kenya.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
THE REASONS, METHODS AND EFFECTS OF PROTECTION
1. Define the term ‘protection’. Why do governments protect their domestic industries from import competition?
2. Using examples, explain the five main economic arguments used to justify protection. Aside from economic
arguments, what other reasons are advanced for the protection of domestic industries?
3. Distinguish between tariff and non tariff barriers to free trade.
4. With the use of a diagram such as Figure 2.6 explain the main economic effects of the imposition of a tariff on
imports.
5. Use a diagram such as Figure 2.7 to explain the economic effects of a subsidy on domestic prices, output and
imports. What are the advantages and disadvantages of subsidies over tariffs?
6. Briefly discuss forms of protection other than tariffs and subsidies such as quotas.
7. Discuss the main macroeconomic and microeconomic effects of protection on a national economy like
Australia. How do global wheat subsidies affect Australian wheat exports?
Refer to Figure 2.9 in your answer.
8. Discuss the effects of global protection and the potential gains from global trade liberalisation.

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64 Chapter 2: Free Trade and Protection © Tim Riley Publications Pty Ltd

[CHAPTER 2: SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

The following table shows the production possibilities for two countries, A and B, in the production of two
commodities, computers and wheat, using the same quantity of resources.

Computers Wheat (tonnes)

Nation A 4,000 12,000

Nation B 2,000 8,000

Marks

1. Which country has a comparative advantage in the production of computers? (1)

2. Which country has a comparative advantage in the production of wheat? (1)

3. According to the principle of comparative advantage, why should nations A and B trade? (2)

4. Explain THREE benefits that might result from nations A and B engaging
in international trade in computers and wheat. (3)

5. Explain the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in promoting free trade. (3)

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[CHAPTER FOCUS ON FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION

“In addition to Australia, many other countries have also significantly reduced their tariff barriers on a
unilateral basis recently. For example, many countries have more than halved their Most Favoured Nation
(MFN) tariffs over the last decade. These reductions have been particularly pronounced in the APEC region.”

Source: Productivity Commission (2006), Trade and Assistance Review 2004-05, Melbourne.

Percentage Changes in Simple Average MFN Tariffs

Source: Productivity Commission (2006), Trade and Assistance Review 2004-05, Melbourne.

Discuss the reasons for countries reducing their tariff barriers on a unilateral basis and analyse the potential
economic benefits of this policy for these countries and the global economy.

[CHAPTER 2: EXTENDED RESPONSE QUESTION

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of free trade and protection and the role of the World Trade
Organisation in promoting free trade in the global economy.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY
FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION
1. International trade refers to the specialisation of production and the exchange of goods and services between
countries or across national boundaries.

2. The basis for international trade is the uneven distribution of world resources (or factor endowments) and the use
of different resource combinations to achieve the most efficient level of production.

3. A country has an absolute advantage in production if it can produce more output with a given level of resources
than another country. A country has a comparative advantage in production if it is comparatively more efficient
in production as measured by a lower opportunity cost.

4. The advantages of free trade include economies of scale in production leading to lower prices,
a greater quantity and quality of goods for consumers and higher living standards for a nation’s residents.

5. The disadvantages of free trade are that infant industries cannot compete against more competitive overseas
producers and some structural unemployment may occur in uncompetitive local industries.

6. International organisations which promote free trade as a means of raising economic growth and
development and living standards in countries include the following:
• The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• The World Bank
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

7. Global government economic forums that influence world trade and economic policy include:

• The G7 (USA, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Canada)
• The G8 (NB: Russia was expelled from the G8 in 2014 for violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty)
• The G20

8. Some of the main forms of economic integration include a free trade area; a customs union;
a common market; and a monetary union. Examples of contemporary trade agreements include:

• The European Union (EU)

• Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
• The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asian Economic Community (AEC)

9. Protection refers to an advantage given to a local producer over a foreign competitor by a government. The
five main economic arguments used to justify protection are establishing infant industries; protecting domestic
employment during a recession; the prevention of dumping of products below factor cost; improving the home
country’s terms of trade; and reducing a balance of payments deficit.

10. The main methods used to protect domestic industries from foreign competition include tariffs, subsidies,
bounties, quotas, embargoes, local content schemes, government procurement policies, Voluntary Export
Restraints (VERs) and export incentives.

11. Protection may have negative effects on a nation’s economic performance including lower efficiency, export
earnings, employment and rate of economic growth.

12. Protection has a damaging effect on the global economy by restricting the growth in world trade, living
standards and levels of economic development in advanced and developing countries.

13. There was an upsurge in global protectionist sentiment in 2018-19 with the USA imposing tariffs
on a range of Chinese imports and China retaliating with tariffs on a range of US imports.

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