CRS – Europes Preferential Trade Agreements: Status, Content, and Implications. Raymond J. Ahearn, Specialist in International Trade and Finance, March 3, 2011
“Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) comprise a variety of arrangements that favor member parties over non-members by extending tariff and other non-tariff preferences. PTAs, particularly free trade agreements (FTAs), have proliferated in recent years. In the post-war period, the European Union (EU), which is a PTA itself, has developed the largest network of PTAs in the world. The main findings of this report are as follows.
“EU PTAs cover nearly twice as much trade (exports) in percentage terms (70% versus 40%) and seven times as much in value terms ($3.4 trillion versus $0.52 trillion) than U.S. PTAs. These numbers can be used to support the argument that U.S. firms may face more discrimination and possibly reduced sales than EU firms. At the same time, the data may overstate the degree of discrimination because the amount of trade covered by PTAs is not the same as the amount of trade conducted on a preferential (duty-free) basis.”
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