With the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) reported to be considering a downgrade of India, trade ties between the two countries are even rockier than usual. Worse, the decision could be announced soon after a newly elected Indian government takes office in May, potentially starting a new relationship on a very sour note.
Thanks to a program organized by Brookings Japan scholar Mireya Solís and the Japan Center for Economic Research, I spent last week in Tokyo discussing prospects for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
I am still combing through the 1,000 page, $1 trillion farm bill to figure out what it means for US development and trade policy. Here’s my quick take.
This is shaping up to be a big year for US trade policy. Most eyes are on potential deals with the Pacific Rim and Europe (and reeling from Senator Reid’s latest blow to their prospects). Those of us concerned with trade as a driver for development should also be watching Congress’ and the Obama Administration’s review of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The United States is the world’s most influential economic player. The United States Federal Reserve’s actions, in particular, affect the rest of the world.
Just a few months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti four years ago, Congress overwhelmingly approved the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act to reduce the barriers to Haiti’s clothing exports. Congress’s goal in improving market access was to help Haiti attract investment and create jobs as part of the rebuilding process.
Colleagues Amanda Glassman and Bill Savedoff posted an excellent piece on the role of the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development, and other nontrade agencies in helping developing countries fend off the “Big Tobacco Bullies.” They argue that agencies like the World Bank could use their money, technical assistance, and policy dialogue to provide big visible support for developing countries to implement their anti-tobacco policies.
The Bali package included agreements to facilitate trade by modernizing customs procedures and to ensure that minimum access for agricultural imports subject to quotas is achieved in practice. On food security, there was, at the end, a resolution of the dispute over a “peace clause” that will allow India to shield its food stockholding program from trade challenges for at least four years.
After some modest tweaks over the years, the trade component of the Commitment to Development Index got a makeover in 2013—not a new face, but a nip and tuck here and there. The latest CDI includes a more direct measure of tacit barriers to trade from the World Bank’s Doing Business indicators on the time and cost to import, exclusive of tariffs. The trade component also now recognizes the growing importance of trade in services—and barriers to it—thanks to another team of World Bank economists that developed the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index.
So just how upset should the development community be about the leaked intellectual property (IP) chapter from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations? We should be very upset that the Obama administration is pushing an agenda that is more about rent-seeking than innovation.