This paper investigates and analyzes the present status, potential, and prospects of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreements (FTAs). It begins with a review of the historical evolution of ASEAN FTAs, which captures the achievements of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement...

Free trade agreements (FTAs) have become a prominent feature of the multilateral trading system and an important instrument of trade policy for members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The proliferation of FTAs is the result of a number of factors, from the economic to the political. East...

Because international trade theory has not provided an unambiguous prediction on the impact of trade on growth, a vast literature tried to identify the relationship empirically. After summarizing the influential large country case studies of the 1970s and early 1980s - which showed the folly of...

The weak global GDP growth since the financial crisis in 2007-2009 has coincided with unusually weak growth in global trade. Organisations that monitor international macro-economic development have identified growing protectionism – not least the increase in non-tariff barriers to trade, such...

Free trade agreements (FTAs) have become a prominent feature of the multilateral trading system and an important instrument of trade policy for members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The proliferation of FTAs is the result of a number of factors, from the economic to the political. East...

The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) - a system of differential and favorable trade arrangements toward less developed countries - has been around since the early 1970s. A primary objective of GSP schemes, sponsored by developed industrialized countries, especially by the United States...

Policymakers increasingly view China’s rapidly growing wealth as a threat. China currently ranks second, or perhaps even first, in the world in gross domestic product (although 78th in per capita GDP), and the fear is that China will acquire military prowess commensurate with its wealth and...

According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries’ growth would benefit from reductions in barriers to trade. However, the empirical basis for judging trade reforms is weak. Econometrics are mostly ad hoc; results are typically not judged against models; policies are poorly measured;...

Preliminary results for 2015 have shown no substantial structural changes in both imports and non-energy exports. The import structure is most stable: the percentage share of chemical industry products, which are used basically as by-product in the domestic manufacturing industry, has seen some...