This paper takes up the question of whether market concerns about global imbalances in general, and the US external deficit in particular, are well founded. It reviews four arguments bearing on how concerned we should be about the widening of the US current account deficit since the Asian...

Regulations established for economic agents and policy rules established for governments incorporate distilled wisdom based on (usually unhappy) experience as to what works and what doesn't. At times, however, these rules require action that appears to run contrary to common sense. At the heart...

At a time of unprecedented growth in trade fueled in part by a wave of trade liberalization, there has been a strong counter-current in terms of growth in non-tariff measures (NTMs) that tend to restrict trade. This short note takes up two questions: Why have NTMs proliferated and what are the...

This study seeks to identify and estimate the relative importance of supply - versus demand - side constraints on Ethiopia's exports. Ethiopia has tried radically different trade strategies in the past, including a strategy of import replacement/protection for infant industries during the...

In the context of stalled multilateral trade negotiations, major trading economies are seeking free trade agreements (FTAs) to secure their market access objectives. Nowhere is this dynamic stronger than in East Asia, where a web of bilateral and plurilateral agreements is stitching together...

Canada has historically been one of the major users of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in international trade. This monograph provides an extensive and detailed review of Canadian practice under the Special Import Measures Act. It evaluates the performance and effectiveness of Canada's...

The distinction of introducing the first anti-dumping measure falls to Canada. At a time when tariffs were not bound, what made the duty special was that it could be levied administratively, rather than being enacted. In historical context, anti-dumping first made its appearance in an era that...

Ethiopia is in the midst of a sustained growth surge that is becoming increasingly broad-based, building on major improvements in educational attainment, improved health outcomes, and infrastructure capacity in terms of access to power, transportation and telecommunications. The Government's...

With the recent completion of a second Joint Study regarding a Canada-Japan Free Trade Agreement, and Canada's entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, which may eventually include Japan, the implications of trade liberalization with Asian economies gains renewed interest, in...