Information AboutTrade Justice |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TRADE JUSTICE | |
| development | |
| economic ideologies | |
| fair trade | |
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Although some see "trade justice" as having much the same meaning as " Fair Trade ", many use the former term to denote the campaign against what they see as the injustices of the current international trade regime. They aim to influence powerful international organisations such as the European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), and World Trade Organization (WTO) to prioritise poverty reduction when making international trade rules. Some campaigners focus on the way that agricultural subsidies and tariffs in the West make it difficult for farmers in poor countries to compete. For example they argue that the European Union 's agricultural Export Subsidies encourage overproduction of goods such as tomatoes or sugar, which are then sold cheaply in poor countries. Local farmers can't sell their goods as cheaply and go out of business. The campaign points to the treatment of agriculture at the WTO, which has institutionalised these injustices. In the few instances where developing countries have used the complex and expensive WTO process to declare subsidies (eg US Cotton subsidies) excessive, developed countries ignore these rulings, which the WTO itself does not enforce. Recently rich countries have begun to talk about cutting export subsidies, but they often demand greater access to poor-country markets in return. The term "trade justice" emphasises that even if the playing field were level, instead of tilted against developing countries, the poorest developing countries in particular would still struggle to gain from trade if forced to trade under Free Trade terms. This is because of their overwhelming lack of competitiveness - poor countries don't have huge stocks of exports waiting to be shipped to rich countries, instead most small farmers want to be able to sell their goods locally. So those calling for "trade justice" often also defend the right of developing country governments to follow Protectionist trade policies. They believe that poor-country governments should have the right to choose their own trade policies to best promote Food Security and to protect the livelihoods of agricultural producers. The campaign for trade justice has its opponents. They argue that moving towards free trade is the best way out of poverty for poor countries. Their reasoning is that free trade would provide cheap consumer goods to people in poor countries, that privatisation is needed to transform inefficient nationalised industries, and that protection of small farmers is ultimately unsustainable. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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