Finding proper article from the daily press or other sources n writing 2 pages report about article - Essay Example

(Ken) & Number: International Trade Relations (Economics) 26 November (estimated word count – 623) Introduction International trade relations form the bedrock of international diplomacy. Together with international security arrangements, trade forms the most important component in world relations among various countries in terms of exports and imports of goods and services. This fragile international structure works in part due to the setting up of World Trade Organization (WTO) that issues policies and governs trade relations among the nations in the world today.

The WTO is the final arbiter in trade disputes and formulates ways and means to reduce trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas to facilitate world trade and improve living standards. This brief paper discusses some of the important issues in international trade relations. DiscussionThe world economy is in a recession brought about by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States which started sometime in 2007 but later spread worldwide. Because of it many developed countries are facing financial and economic crises as a consequence as seen in the sovereign debt crisis in European countries such as the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) which undermined the euro currency and unity of the European Union.

It is a crisis of unprecedented proportions which had adversely affected world trade in general. Recent news reports as seen in the international media point to a lingering crisis that had defied easy solutions. World trade today is conducted mostly under the WTO supervision but there are many trade blocs now in existence that grant special most favored nation status (MFN) to some countries that trade with each other. This is a violation of the WTO rules that state countries should let free trade prevail through its non-discrimination policy in place.

An example of a specific trade bloc is the so-called G-20 (or group of 20) consisting of the twenty most economically powerful countries of the world. However, this group failed to produce a single plan of action that will adequately address the Great Recession in contrast to the Great Depression of 1933. The world today is facing similar challenges in world order as economies are facing stubbornly high unemployment rates such as the U. S. and Europe. A G-20 meeting held in Seoul (South Korea) last year to address the most pressing issues failed to come up with a solution as member-countries could not agree on what steps to take.

This is a dangerous situation which had frayed international trade relations because of some massive international trade imbalances of some countries (China and Germany in particular) with huge surpluses while other countries ran up huge trade deficits (Powell 1). It has been almost exactly a year ago since that important meeting on most economic issues but still the global economy has not recovered sufficiently yet. This was why a recent meeting was held in Hawaii last week with Pres. Barack Obama as the host of APEC summit with the world economy as the main agenda.

America is trying to re-connect with the dynamic economies of the Asia-Pacific region which led the world in some form of recovery but still it is not enough. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the second week of November this year aimed to enhance exports that will create American jobs (Calmes 1).ConclusionTrade frictions are again on the rise as countries find ways to revive their economies. This can be gleaned from the number of trade cases filed at the WTO claiming some form of trade discrimination by some countries and they are asking for sanctions and fines to penalize those who violated WTO trade rules.

As the world economy continues to lurch forward with no certain ways to revive the global economy, countries must work together to find solutions. Works CitedCalmes, Jackie. “Obama Trip Stresses Ties to Economies Across Pacific.” The New York Times. 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2011 Powell, Bill. “G20: Why Failure Wouldnt be the End of the World.” Time Magazine. 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2011