Full Description
One of the most pressing issues confronting the multilateral trade system is the challenge posed by the rapid proliferation of preferential trade agreements. Plenty has been written about why governments might choose to negotiate preferentially or multilaterally, but until now it has been written almost exclusively from the perspective of governments. We know very little about how non-state actors view this issue of 'forum choice', nor how they position themselves to influence choices by governments about whether to emphasize PTAs or the WTO. This book addresses that issue squarely through case studies of trade policy-making and forum choice in eight developing countries: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, Jordan, Indonesia and Thailand. The case studies are based on original research by the authors, including interviews with state and non-state actors involved in the trade policy-making process in the eight countries of this study.
Contents
Introduction; 1. The domestic politics of trade policy-making: state and non-state actor interactions and forum choice Ann Capling and Patrick Low; 2. Chile Sebastián Herreros; 3. Colombia Hernando J. Gómez and Javier Gamboa; 4. Mexico Jaime Zabludovsky and Linda Pasquel; 5. Indonesia Alexander C. Chandra and Lutfiyah Hanim; 6. Thailand Thitinan Pongsudhirak; 7. Jordan Riad Al Khouri; 8. Kenya Njuguna Ng'ethe and Jacob Omolo; 9. South Africa Peter Draper, Tsidiso Disenyana and Gilberto Biacuana; 10. The influence of international non-state actors in multilateral and preferential trade agreements: a question of forum shopping? Maria Perez-Esteve; 11. Main findings and conclusions Ann Capling and Patrick Low.
