Trade in Troubled Times - Turkish Policy Quarterly

From the Desk of the Editor

TPQ’s Winter issue examines global trade dynamics—from US-China tensions to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to US tariff threats towards the EU. Chief among the issues generating a high degree of economic uncertainty is the US-China trade conflict and the magnitude of the emerging global fallout. Major changes are already afoot—namely a shift in global supply chains—which are changing the shape of global trade and impacting businesses....

Süreya Martha Köprülü | 18 March 2019

Turkey’s Trade Strategies in the New Digital Age

Change and transformation are key for the welfare of humankind. Today, we are particularly challenged by the rapid evolution of information technologies. Digitalization and automation have fundamentally altered the way business is conducted and have transformed the way countries trade with one another. Consequently, the success and welfare of the Turkish economy and the world lie mostly in the ability to foresee future technological trends, particularly the digitalization of economies. Against...

Ruhsar Pekcan | 19 March 2019

From NAFTA to the USMCA as Seen From the Southern Partnership

The North America trade and production platform built under NAFTA’s umbrella has re-oriented the economic relationship between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Millions of jobs across the continent are supported by the 1.3 trillion USD of annual trade and significant cross border investment. The US-Mexico economic relationship has particularly expanded. The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would preserve these beneficial economic ties and provide an important...

Antonio Ortiz-Mena & Earl Anthony Wayne | 18 March 2019

How Trade and Aid Can Help Deliver Sustainable Development Goals

Trade and aid can help the international community deliver the universal and comprehensive Agenda for Sustainable Development. International trade is an important means of implementation for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 targets. Aid can help developing countries build the capacities that are required for turning market access opportunities in trade flows. However, the vicious cycle of underdevelopment can only be truly broken through removing compartmentalized approaches...

Frans Lammersen & William Hynes | 18 March 2019

Trade Wars: Strong-Arm Tactics by the Trump Administration

As the Trump Administration’s trade strategy unfolds, a coherent approach is beginning to surface. The methods the US resort to go well beyond conventional trade measures, bordering on antagonism. The US aims to find solutions to structural issues in its bilateral relations with China through a trade deal. This article asks if the weaponization of trade will prevail as a tool of coercion to achieve strategic influence among major stakeholders in the future. However, the intensity...

Bozkurt Aran | 19 March 2019

Global Trade Disrupted

January 2019 marked the halfway point of the Trump administration, a presidency that has been embroiled with disruption and a break from traditional US trade policy. Under Trump’s leadership, the United States has pulled out of the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), threatened to leave the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), started a trade war with China, and imposed tariffs on traditional allies on the grounds of national security considerations. 2019 will be a pivotal year for...

Marie Kasperek | 19 March 2019

Africa’s Priorities amidst the “Trade Wars”

The “trade wars” are here to stay and will impact Africa’s trade relations via its key trading partners, the EU, US, and China, via bilateral relations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Africans have little leverage over what happens in the WTO but need to be part of the solution by supporting reform initiatives and smaller group negotiations. They have far more control over their own regional economic integration agenda and, recognizing that the medium-term future of...

Peter Draper | 19 March 2019

Can Trade Advance Climate Action?

This article examines some of the linkages between trade rules and climate action, and identifies how trade rules might be made to support the fight against climate change. Multilateral environmental agreements have included provisions on trade and some have even included the protection of the environment in the preamble. Similarly, regional and bilateral trade agreements include some additional obligations, such as the obligation to have high environmental standards. However, it remains that...

Silvia Maciunas | 19 March 2019

Wounded But Alive: What the USMCA Means For Canada

The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) resulted in a new pact, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Negotiations were tense and acrimonious throughout, resulting in a new agreement that is worse for Canada than the status quo. This article outlines some of the key changes reflected in the USMCA from the perspective of Canada and how they are likely to impact the Canadian economy. Meanwhile, the future of the USMCA remains in doubt with no clear path...

Meredith B. Lilly | 19 March 2019

Trade, Production, And Emerging Economies: Rising Trends In Agriculture And Manufacturing

The rise of the Southern economies is both a function and a consequence of the change in the global trading system. With the majority of Southern economies being agrarian in nature, this article explores emerging trends in global trade under the agriculture sector and its various dimensions. A comparative analysis of the quantitative data on developed, developing, emerging and the least developed countries gives insight into the changing dynamics of global trading patterns in primary products,...

Sachin Chaturvedi | 19 March 2019

Trade in Troubled TimesVol. 17 No. 4 - Winter 2019

Trade in Troubled Times
Vol. 17 No. 4 - Winter 2019