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Liberalisation and Protection under Overlapping Free Trade Agreements: Dynamic Interplay between Free Trade Agreements and Investment
Author(s) -
Postigo Antonio
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the world economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1467-9701
pISSN - 0378-5920
DOI - 10.1111/twec.12234
Subject(s) - liberalization , protectionism , international economics , international trade , free trade , sunk costs , economics , position (finance) , investment (military) , foreign direct investment , negotiation , market access , rules of origin , business , market economy , finance , political science , agriculture , ecology , politics , biology , law , macroeconomics , microeconomics
Two decades into the most recent wave of regionalism many of its implications remain to be fully understood. A vast literature has explored the impacts of free trade agreements ( FTA s) on investment flows, but less attention has been given to how existing patterns of investment alter FTA liberalisation. It is contended here that the dynamic interplay between overlapping FTA areas and the investment sunk in them shapes governments' and firms' positions regarding further FTA liberalisation. During trade negotiations, a country may decide to exclude a sector from FTA liberalisation to prevent (concession prevention) future FTA partners from making similar demands. Concession prevention could also occur when a foreign firm, holding a dominant market position in a host country, relinquishes liberalisation demands in an FTA between host and home countries to prevent its current position being eroded if the host country grants similar (or better) concessions to competing firms from other countries in future FTA s. Conversely, investment sunk into a country's sensitive sector in the territory of partners from previous FTA s could pre‐empt (concession pre‐emption) the protectionist position of that country when it subsequently negotiates FTA s with the investment‐source countries. These arguments were tested in the negotiations around the liberalisation of the automotive industry that Thailand and Malaysia had with Japan in their respective bilateral FTA s. The distinct interaction between investment and the FTA s in which these countries participate resulted either in entrenchment of protectionism in the sector or its liberalisation across subsequent FTA s.