In The News

Fags and Fiction

Alison Benjamin July 8, 2004
US tobacco company Phillip Morris is trying to be more socially responsible by decreasing the health risks of its product and discouraging underage smoking. Though the fact that much of Phillip Morris’ tobacco is grown in the Third World makes it a candidate for classification as a fair-trade good, the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation has no current plans to consider the market and is instead...

Wise Trade Policy Can Address the Roots of Terrorism

Edward Gresser July 8, 2004
A lot of ink has been spent in debating what is the best way to fight the growing terrorist threat coming essentially from Islamic parts of the world. One way the West can help drain the swamps that breed fundamentalism and terrorism is by removing a basic cause of anger and frustration – economic stagnation and unemployment. Trade expert Edward Gresser says the West needs to make its trade...

US Shrimpers Still Carping

Jane Bussey July 7, 2004
The shrimping industry across eight Southern US states has filed antidumping complaints against countries in both Latin America and Asia. On Tuesday two of those complaints, against China and Vietnam, were recognized as legitimate when the US Commerce Department's International Trade Administration recommended punitive duties. Though these duties cannot be imposed without a final ruling by...

Exporting Animation a Huge Japanese Success Story

Hiroko Nakata July 7, 2004
The export of Japanese animation series, particularly to the US, continues to grow both in terms of hours of animation and number of series. Along with related products such as video games and toys, export of these programs has brought considerable lucre to the island nation. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! have become household names in many American communities, but the Japanese language vocabulary of...

Faces of Globalization

Jong-Heon Lee July 1, 2004
Korean films have recently experienced increased popularity such that they now control 70 percent of the domestic market share, a figure which is up from 35.1 percent in 2000. Whereas, in the past, South Korean films were of poor quality and attracted few viewers, now the industry is producing blockbusters like "Taegukgi" (the South Korean national flag) which not only fared well...

Lula: Support globalization

Alan Clendenning June 16, 2004
While hundreds of demonstrators chanted against globalization, inside a conference hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s leftwing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had a different message. Addressing a gathering of 180-nation United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, he said the developing world should learn how to use globalization instead of denouncing it. Lula’s speech offered yet another...

The End of Textile Quotas Will Redistribute Pain and Gain

Edward Gresser June 10, 2004
The abolition of textile quotas by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2005 does not bode well for all developing countries, says Edward Gresser, Director of the PPI Project on Trade and Global Markets. Although the lifting of textile quotas will be a much-awaited victory for developing countries against rich economies like the US and Europe, its benefits will be highly uneven. Come...