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From Spaghetti Bowl to Jigsaw Puzzle? Fixing the Mess in Regional and Global Trade

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  • Jayant Menon

Abstract

The rise of mega-regionals such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) suggests that the world trade system is fragmenting and appears more like a jigsaw puzzle than a spaghetti bowl. There are both regional and global jigsaw puzzles to be solved—in that order—to clean up the world trade system. But is this even likely? The difficulties of free trade agreement (FTAA) consolidation at the regional level are well known, while piecing together the blocs around the world to form a coherent whole is even more challenging. In this context, a way forward is to return to the most widely used modality of trade liberalisation—unilateral actions—but this time involving the multilateralisation of preferences rather than unreciprocated reductions in tariff rates. Multilateralisation of preferences presents a practical way forward in addressing the disarray in the world trade system.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayant Menon, 2014. "From Spaghetti Bowl to Jigsaw Puzzle? Fixing the Mess in Regional and Global Trade," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(3), pages 470-483, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:1:y:2014:i:3:p:470-483
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard E. Baldwin, 2011. "Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocks on the Path to Global Free Trade," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. World Bank, 2005. "Global Economic Prospects 2005 : Trade, Regionalism and Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14783, December.
    3. Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2014. "Race-to-the-bottom Tariff Cutting," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 444-458, August.
    4. Medalla, Erlinda M., 2011. "Taking Stock of the ROOs in the ASEAN+1 FTAs: Toward Deepening East Asian Integration," Discussion Papers DP 2011-36, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Duong Tran & Adam Heal, 2014. "A Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific: Potential Pathways to Implementation," Trade Insights Series 4, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    2. Stellian, Rémi & Danna-Buitrago, Jenny Paola, 2022. "Which revealed comparative advantage index to choose? Theoretical and empirical considerations," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.

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