UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTE FOR TRAINING AND RESEARCH
unitar.org
GLOBAL TRADE SOVEREIGNTY AND SUBNATIONAL AUTONOMY
Over the past 50 years, and particularly during the past decade, nations have sought to expand international commerce by removing trade barriers, both the physical and procedural variety at border crossings, as well as substantive laws and regulations that restrict equal access of firms in one nation to the markets of another. Any international trade agreement restricts national sovereignty and local autonomy, particularly laws and regulations related to food, agriculture, environment, resource management, health, and economic development. International trade agreements typically seek to remove discrimination between local origin products and services and those from others. Some trade agreements protect local rules through selective exceptions or reservations. It remains to be seen whether the emerging international law undergirding trade will improve or undermine democracy at the state and local levels.
Trade and Subnational Autonomy
Since World War II nations sought to encourage multilateral commerce by reducing or removing trade barriers. The various negotiation rounds under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), particularly GATT-1994, the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), World Trade Organization (WTO) discussions, and other multilateral for a have sought to free capital and labor by facilitating equal access to markets. Some analysts believe that this past decade's sustained economic expansion reflects the increased opportunities made possible by the international trade system. Despite challenges to this process by the Seattle and Washington, D.C. demonstrations this past year, the process of trade liberalization continues. Even once protective nations (such as Argentina, China, and even Switzerland) today are keen to join the system. The pace is increasing within the European Union (EU), as it adopts the Euro and considers admitting 12 or 13 new members through the "accession" process.
One necessary consequence of multilateral trade agreements is that actions which level the playing field by allowing equal access to markets simultaneously restrict traditional national sovereignty and local autonomy. There are two key provisions common in most comprehensive multilateral trade agreements, such as those associated with the EU, GATT, WTO, and NAFTA: a nondiscrimination clause and national implementation obligations.
Conclusions
Multilateral trade agreements are likely to change subnational government roles. Global trade is creating an imperative for the rule of multinational law as a means to secure mobility of trade, capital, labor, and services. It is hard to know whether such change will be beneficial or harmful to the citizens who are subject to the affected state, regional, or local jurisdiction. Trade agreements do not set common international standards, but rather seek to secure a so-called "equal" playing field: local products are not allowed to have structural advantages over foreign products. However, it is clear that trade can facilitate common international standards for either good or ill, compromise the sovereignty of national governments, and reduce the autonomy of provincial, state and regional, or local governments. |
