Since 1990s, the rapid development of information technology has accelerated the process of economic globalization and integration, and promoted the development of global trade liberalization. At the same time, it also aggravated the imbalance of economic development among countries and triggered new trade protectionism. Compared with traditional trade protection, it shows ten outstanding characteristics in the focus of attention, the means of implementation, the way of protection, the motivation and purpose of protection and the influence. A new focus of trade protection lies in the past trade protection theory, whether it is the infant industry theory used by developing countries or the popular strategic trade policy in developed countries, its focus is mainly on economic issues, with emphasis on industrial development. The difference is that the former protects infant industries, while the latter protects strategic industries. However, the popular new trade protection theories in recent years, such as employment protection theory and environmental protection theory, have expanded their focus from economic issues to social issues, from industrial development to people themselves. Among them, employment protection theory focuses on people's labor rights, environmental protection theory focuses on people's living environment, and green barriers focus on people's health and safety. With the change of the focus of new trade protection, labor standards, international standards for social responsibility certification (SA8000), product quality certification standards and animal and plant quarantine standards have become important tools for developed countries to implement trade protection. For example, the United States, France and Italy are discussing an agreement that requires all export enterprises in China, such as textiles, clothing, toys and shoes, to obtain SA8000 certification in advance, or they will boycott imports. In order to protect the development of domestic industries, under the framework of traditional trade protection theory, countries mainly implement import restrictions through trade policies such as tariffs and non-tariff barriers. Under the framework of new trade protection theory, due to the change of protection emphasis, the traditional means of trade protection have been restricted, and the new means of trade protection have changed: (1) Abuse WTO anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures on the grounds of protecting fair trade, and achieve the purpose of restricting imports by imposing high anti-dumping duties or encouraging enterprises to implement anti-dumping. For example, the White Amendment passed by the United States in June, 5438 +2000 10 clearly stipulates that the US Treasury will send the anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties collected by the customs to domestic producers applying for anti-dumping and countervailing investigations in the form of "offset". (2) on the grounds of protecting consumers' safety and health, by establishing new animal and plant inspection and quarantine measures and environmental technical standards, the international competitiveness of the other's advantageous industries will be weakened. For example, on June 5438+ 10, 2003, the European Commission promulgated the "Rules on Registration, Evaluation and Licensing of Chemicals" (draft), requiring the establishment of a unified "registration, evaluation and licensing" system to manage the production, import and sales of chemicals. Japan stipulates that after 2003, rice imported from Japan must be marked with variety, place of origin, producer name and certification number, otherwise it is prohibited to sell. (3) On the grounds of safeguarding workers' basic rights, by establishing new international social responsibility standards.
Quasi-certification weakens the international competitiveness of labor-intensive products in developing countries. At present, more than 200 multinational companies around the world have formulated and implemented corporate social responsibility standards, requiring suppliers and contract factories to abide by labor standards. According to statistics, in China, more than 50 multinational companies such as Carrefour, Nike, Adidas, Avon and General Electric have carried out social responsibility audits. Experts predict that at present, more than 8,000 enterprises in the coastal areas of China have accepted this kind of audit, and more than 50,000 enterprises are ready for inspection at any time. Because labor standards involve human rights issues such as workers' age, overtime hours, dormitory conditions, and technical standards involve a country's technical regulations and technical level, the means of trade protection have also changed from trade policies such as tariffs to socio-economic and technical policies such as labor standards and technical standards. (4) More diversified protection means First of all, traditional protection means such as anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures are still frequently used. Secondly, technical barriers, green barriers, intellectual property protection, labor standards and other trade barriers have been refurbished and applied more widely. Developed countries make use of their advantages in environmental protection and science and technology to set higher standards in environmental protection, technology, commodities and labor, so as to weaken the export competitiveness of developing countries with low labor costs. Because these new trade protection measures have good orientation, concealment and flexibility, some technical and environmental protection requirements are based on improving the technical level and safeguarding the interests of consumers, and can even be regarded as neutral trade standards. In addition, the WTO's restrictions on the application of these trade measures are not uniform, so their protective effects are more prominent, which further aggravates trade frictions around the world. Three new ways of trade protection Under the framework of traditional trade protection, the way of trade protection is mainly to restrict imports through tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers and establish a defense line for domestic industrial protection. Restricted by WTO's tariff reduction and elimination of non-tariff barriers, the new trade protection model has also undergone new changes: (1) realizing economies of scale through export subsidies and protecting the domestic market, and shifting from restricting imports to expanding exports. For example, Europe and the United States support the development of Airbus and Boeing aircraft with export subsidies to expand the international market share; Japan protects the domestic market by restricting imports, so that its semiconductor manufacturers can obtain economies of scale, improve their competitiveness in foreign markets, and achieve the purpose of expanding exports. (2) Bring the comparative advantage industries of developed countries into the WTO framework through multilateral trade negotiations, forcing other countries to open their markets and expand their exports. For example, during Clinton's administration, through the Uruguay Round negotiations, service trade was included and the service trade market was opened. At the same time, 1997 reached the agreement on global basic telecommunications, the agreement on information technology and the agreement on global trade in financial services, requiring member countries to open the telecommunications market, banking, securities and insurance markets to foreign companies, and realize zero tariffs on related information technology products in 2000 1 year. (3) By establishing labor standards and technical standards. To achieve the goal of a total ban on imports. For example, multinational companies link SA8000 to the orders of enterprises, and those that do not meet the standards cannot be exported; On June 5438+ 10, 2002, the European Union completely banned the import of animal-derived products from China on the grounds that some animal-derived foods imported from China contained chloramphenicol residues, and the pesticide residue system in China did not meet the requirements. On June 5438+ 10, 2003, the European Commission issued directive 2003/03/EC, prohibiting the use of azo dyes called blue colorants in textile crystals and leather products, and products that do not meet this directive are not allowed to be imported. Motivation and purpose of new trade protection Under the traditional trade protection framework, infant industry theory mainly refers to developing countries establishing their own industrial protection lines through tariff barriers, while strategic trade policy mainly refers to developed countries realizing economies of scale, expanding market share and improving the international competitiveness of their own industries through tariffs and subsidies. The new trade protection theory has been fundamentally cut off.
Weakness even makes the other side lose its international competitiveness. Its main manifestations are: (1) weakening the international competitiveness of the other country by imposing high anti-dumping duties. For example, the anti-dumping duties imposed by developed countries on the exports of labor-intensive products from developing countries are on average 10 times higher than those imposed by industrial countries. (2) By setting up technical barriers to trade, developing countries lose the international competitiveness of high value-added products. For example, in February 2003, the European Union issued the directive 2002/96/EC on waste electronic and electrical equipment and the directive 2002/95/EC on restricting the use of certain harmful substances in electronic and electrical equipment, requiring producers to ensure the collection and collection of waste electronic and electrical equipment of products put on the market after August 2005. Experts predict that these two electronic and electrical equipment directives will involve more than 2,000 domestic enterprises and export 27 billion US dollars, and their implementation will have a serious impact on China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to Europe. (3) By establishing animal and plant quarantine standards and labor standards, developing countries have lost their international competitiveness in the export of labor-intensive products. For example, developed countries have continuously improved the quarantine standards for the packaging of exported aquatic products, from a few to dozens, which has led to the expulsion of China's exported aquatic products from the market in recent years due to unqualified packaging, with losses as high as more than 7 billion; The implementation of social responsibility certification in the United States puts forward special requirements for workers' minimum wages and working hours, which leads to the failure of China enterprises to obtain orders from multinational companies because of high cost or failure to pass SA8000 certification. The effect of new trade protection No matter what trade protection measures are taken, the purpose is to expand exports by restricting imports, promote domestic economic development and expand employment, and obtain the greatest economic benefits. However, a large number of facts also show that the result of trade protection not only failed to achieve the purpose of protection, but gained economic benefits and paid a heavy price. In the analysis of traditional trade protection framework, we can see that the result of trade protection not only makes consumers suffer losses, but also makes producers pay a huge price. In addition, due to Lerner symmetry effect, the government restricts its own exports and imports from other countries, thus affecting its own export trade. At the same time, the research report "Trade and Global Economy: The Role of International Trade in Productivity, Economic Reform and Growth" recently published by the British Treasury and the Ministry of Trade and Industry also shows that trade protectionism has also caused huge losses to the global economy, and the persistent trade barriers in developed countries have caused the world economy to lose 500 billion US dollars every year. Today, with the prevalence of new trade protectionism, although there is no detailed data to demonstrate the losses that new trade protection brings to domestic consumers, producers and a country, since Bush took office, the United States has implemented new trade protection, resulting in a growing trade deficit. With the reduction of tariffs and the abolition of non-tariff barriers after China's entry into WTO, China's trade has increased by double digits, exceeding the economic growth rate and quickly becoming the third largest trading country in the world. This will do.
It is predicted that new trade protectionism will also encounter the same price as traditional trade protection. The impact of new trade protection In the traditional trade protection, the object of trade protection is either the domestic infant industry or the declining industry, or the domestic strategic industry. The implementation of trade protection through non-tariff barriers such as tariffs and quantitative restrictions not only directly affects a country's related industries, involving microeconomic fields, but also ultimately affects a country's economic growth and employment through changes in import and export structure and industrial structure. New trade protectionism is different from this, because the means of new trade protection are mainly to implement trade restrictions through labor standards, environmental standards and technical standards. Products that do not meet the standards cannot be imported. In order to make the products meet the above standards for export, we must change the existing economic development model and development strategy, adjust social and economic policies, establish and improve relevant legal systems, and make the new trade protection not only affect the economic field, but also penetrate into the domestic social and economic system. For example, as a new topic in Doha negotiations-trade and environment, although it has not been accepted into the WTO framework system at present due to the differences between developed and developing countries, in order to cope with environmental barriers and achieve sustainable economic development, China has begun to adjust its economic development strategy and put forward the establishment of a circular economy. The pace of improving labor laws and regulations and social security system is also accelerating. The origin of new trade protection After nearly 20 years of development, the proportion of developing countries in the total global trade has increased from 1/4 to 1/3, and the structure of export trade has also undergone major changes: from the previous main export of agricultural crystals and resources to the main export of manufactured goods, producing high value-added products. Q) With the improvement of the international trade status of developing countries and the intensification of competition with developed countries in the export of manufactured goods, developed countries began to strictly protect labor-intensive products from developing countries. We not only use traditional trade methods to restrict the import of manufactured goods from developing countries at a tariff four times higher than that of industrial countries, but also, in order to weaken the competitive strength of developing countries, on the one hand, we use the technological advantages of developed countries to restrict the export of developing countries by formulating strict technical standards, on the other hand, we take advantage of the weaknesses of developing countries in environmental protection and working conditions and try our best to bring labor standards into the WTO framework through multilateral trade negotiations to restrict the export of labor-intensive products from developing countries. For example, in the Uruguay Round negotiations, the United States and France introduced labor standards into trade for the first time. Later, at the first ministerial meeting after the establishment of the WTO, labor standards were included in the agenda of the WTO ministerial meeting. The Declaration of Singapore Ministerial Conference confirmed the labor standards, but did not directly link them with trade. Later, at the Seattle meeting of the WTO, the United States publicly proposed that the WTO should establish a sanctions mechanism for countries that violated labor rights, and once again attempted to put the issue of labor standards on the negotiation agenda. Paying attention to environmental protection conforms to the goal of human sustainable development, and putting forward labor standards is also helpful to protect workers.
Basic rights, however, ignore the big gap between developed and developing countries in environmental protection and working conditions, and link them with trade and bring them into the WTO framework, which will not only weaken the advantages of developing countries in the export of labor-intensive products, but also seriously harm the interests of developing countries, and will also affect the market development of developed countries because of the shrinking market of developing countries. The root of new trade protection Since 1990s, the rapid development of information technology has accelerated the process of economic globalization and integration, and promoted the development of global trade liberalization. On the other hand, it has aggravated the imbalance of economic development among countries and triggered new trade protectionism. Its main manifestations are: (1) The unbalanced industrial development among developed countries leads to the protection of their inferior industries in international multilateral trade negotiations, and it is difficult for developed countries to reach an agreement on issues of common concern. For example, in the Doha round of agricultural products negotiations, Keynes Group proposed to cancel and ban all forms of agricultural products export subsidies, while the EU did not agree to completely terminate or substantially reduce export subsidies at one time, considering the export subsidies proposed by Keynes Group to be discriminatory and unacceptable, and advocated gradually reducing export subsidies; In terms of special safeguard measures, the United States insists on canceling agricultural special safeguard measures, while Japan advocates retaining them and introducing special safeguard mechanisms for seasonal and perishable agricultural products. (2) The unbalanced development of traditional industries and modern industries in developed countries has led developed countries to strongly advocate the free trade of their superior industries and bring them into the unified framework of WTO to protect their inferior industries. For example, in the Uruguay Round, the United States brought its superior industries and services into the WTO framework, established a general agreement on trade in six sectors, and restricted and protected its inferior industries such as textiles through quotas and safeguard measures. (3) The imbalance of industrial development between developed and developing countries leads to great differences between developed and developing countries on their respective concerns in international multilateral trade negotiations, and it is difficult to reach a consensus, which affects the process of multilateral trade negotiations. For example, in the Doha Round negotiations, developed countries are eager to start negotiations on Singapore issues, namely, trade and investment, trade and competition policies, transparency of government procurement and trade facilitation, while developing countries pay more attention to export subsidies and market opening of agricultural products in developed countries. The great differences between them led to the failure of Cancun Conference, and the basic goal of Doha Round has not been achieved. The relationship between new trade protection and traditional trade protection means that lowering tariffs and eliminating quantitative restrictions are the basic principles of WTO. After many negotiations, although the overall average tariff level of developed countries is low, in the fields of agricultural products and textiles, the traditional trade protection means-raising tariffs to protect their inferior industries, and the problem of tariff peak and tariff escalation is still very serious: (1) In terms of tariff peak, the average tariff rate of all products in the EU in 2003 was 6.4%, but in the field of agricultural products, the average tariff rate of meat,
Dairy products, processed seafood and fruits still maintain the peak tariff, and the highest tariff for dairy products reaches 209. 9%. Similarly, according to the international tariff peak index, the United States still maintains high tariffs on 259 kinds of products such as textile crystals and clothing, of which the tariff on clothing products is 33.3% and some wool fibers are 3 1.5%. (2) In terms of tariff escalation, the average tariff rate of raw materials in the EU is 0.7%, while the average tariff rate of clothing is 1 1.9%, which is much higher than that of textile raw materials. Meanwhile, developed countries still impose quota restrictions on some products. For example, in 2003, Japan implemented tariff quota management for 20 categories of products such as dairy products and leather shoes. The European Union has imposed quantitative restrictions on nine industrial crystal products such as shoes and ceramic tableware exported from China. In addition, in order to maintain fair trade when resolving international trade disputes, tariffs and quantitative restrictions are still important means for member countries to implement anti-dumping and safeguard measures. Compared with the traditional way of trade, it is only aimed at different countries and products. The relationship between new trade protectionism and free trade From the perspective of the development history of international trade, free trade and protective trade are often carried out alternately. After World War II, with the change of world economy from crisis to recovery, from high to depression, the trend of international trade policy has also experienced the process of trade protection, trade liberalization and new trade protection. At present, under the international background of economic globalization and information development, due to the great adjustment of global industrial structure, the world economy is growing slowly, the development of productive forces in various countries is unbalanced, and free trade and new trade protection are carried out at the same time. On the one hand, in the multilateral trade negotiations of WTO, seven new topics, such as trade and environment, trade facilitation, trade and competition policy, trade and technology transfer, trade and debt, finance and e-commerce, are included in the Doha Round negotiations to promote global trade liberalization; On the other hand, regional economic groups and bilateral trade negotiations have developed rapidly, implementing an open policy at home and trade protection abroad. On the one hand, developed countries strongly advocate the launch of the "Singapore issue"; On the other hand, developing countries represented by Brazil, India, South Africa, Argentina and China formed a 2 1 group to boycott. On the one hand, developed countries vigorously advocate the free trade of their own advantageous industries, such as the United States actively promoting e-commerce, service trade and intellectual property negotiations, and bringing them into the W and rO framework; On the other hand, trade protection is implemented for domestic inferior industries through various means, such as textile and clothing quotas and agricultural product subsidies. After the American election, due to the rise of domestic protectionist forces, it is difficult to fundamentally eliminate the fiscal deficit and trade deficit in the short term, and it is expected that new international trade protectionism will become more prevalent. However, due to the development of economic globalization and the establishment of the World Trade Organization, free trade will also become an irresistible trend.