Despite the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) between nations today, academics and policy makers alike have yet to fully understand why trading nations actively pursue free trade agreements. With what aim do governments enter into an FTA? In this paper, we propose that the...

What kind of technical assistance and capacity building benefits do developing countries enjoy if they sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with developed countries? This is a frequently asked question among developing country officials involved in FTA policymaking. While we tend to normatively...

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are growing more and more important in the global trade in goods and services. Between 1958 and 2005, 141 RTAs concerning the trade in goods were indicated to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Secretariat (since 1995 the World Trade Organization...

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) between the European Union (EU) and trade partners go far beyond mere elimination of tariffs to include such diverse issues as non-tariff barriers, competition legislation, investment protection, and more. Implementing such provisions requires deep institutional and...

In this paper, we examine the territoriality principle under preferential rules of origin. The territoriality principle under preferential rules of origin provides that when a material is imported from outside the territory of a party, the material would be entirely treated as non-originating...

With the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, the pyramidal design of the international trading system placed multilateralism at the top of the pyramid, regionalism/bilateralism in the middle, and the domestic trade and economic policies of WTO Member States at the bottom of...

Integration may be viewed as an evolutionary outgrowth of heightened social and economic interdependence brought about by advances in technology. As persons, goods, capital, services and ideas cross artificial national frontiers at increased rates of speed, the wisdom of imposing disparate...

The construction of international trade accords has sparked controversy among a range of critics concerned with competing economic and social priorities. This dispute over a “free trade” agenda occasionally spills into the streets as the debate gains a public platform during high profile...

The Introduction posted here is from the author's book on "Tax Free Trade Zones of the World and in the United States" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012), posted on SSRN by permission of the author and publisher.Within the last few years small and large international companies in all corners of the...