Comparison between North American Free Trade Area and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area

Comparison between North American Free Trade Area and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area

NAFTA consists of the United States, Canada and Mexico. In August 1992 and 12, an agreement was reached on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was formally signed in their respective countries on February 17 of the same year. 1 994 65438+1October1,the agreement came into effect and the North American Free Trade Area was declared. The three member countries must abide by the principles and rules stipulated in the agreement, such as national treatment, most-favored-nation treatment and procedural transparency, in order to achieve their goals and thus eliminate trade barriers. National goods in the free trade zone can circulate with each other and reduce tariffs, while countries outside the free trade zone still maintain the original tariffs and barriers. Between the United States and Mexico, because of the North American Free Trade Area, Mexico's exports to the United States benefited the most.

China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, referred to as CAFTA, is a free trade area established between China and ten ASEAN countries. The dialogue between China and ASEAN began at 199 1, and China became a full dialogue partner of ASEAN. 20 1 0 65438+1October1FTZ was officially launched. [1] After the completion of the FTA, the trade between ASEAN and China accounts for 13% of the world trade, and it has become a huge economy covering 1 1 countries, with a population of/kloc-0.9 billion and a GDP of 6 trillion US dollars. It is the most populous free trade zone in the world and the largest among developing China countries.

All members of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area are developing countries, and neither China nor ASEAN can bear the main responsibility for the stability and development of Southeast Asia alone. Therefore, mutual benefit, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation is its fundamental principle, and * * * is the reality of internal operation. Neither China nor ASEAN has yet formed a referendum mechanism. Although there is parliamentary participation, its role is far less than that of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In the construction of regional economic integration, the government plays an absolute leading role, or the governments of member countries promote the construction and development of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area on their own, which is one of the most remarkable characteristics that distinguishes China-ASEAN Free Trade Area from North American Free Trade Area. China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is a regional economic integration organization with bilateral cooperation, and one side of bilateral cooperation is a group of countries. Therefore, there is no question of separate negotiations between China and any ASEAN member. Naturally, internal member countries will not be allowed to establish closer cooperation like the EU, and each member country will decide on its own the degree of participation in regional economic integration, thus forming a variety of combinations and development speeds; Even China's differentiated and phased preferential treatment for new ASEAN members is an agreement reached by the ASEAN Group directly with China after consensus within ASEAN.

The signing of NAFTA will have a great impact on North American countries and even the world economy. First of all, it has a positive impact on the economic and trade development in this region. For the United States, the positive effects are as follows: first, not only industrial manufacturing enterprises will benefit, but also high-tech industrial sectors will increase their exports to Canada and Mexico. The trade surplus between the United States and Mexico will therefore increase. Second, expand investment in the western United States. Third, due to the adjustment of production and trade structure, a large number of labor will be invested in those key industrial sectors. Fourth, the agreement will restrict Mexican immigration to the United States.

The negative effects mainly include: the low-tech consumer goods industry is not good for the United States. In order to improve the environmental conditions on the Mexican-American border, the United States has to pay $6 billion to/kloc-0.0 billion in economic and social expenditure, and tariff reduction has reduced the income of the United States and increased the burden on the United States. The agreement has a great impact on Canada and Mexico.

Finally, it will also have an impact on international trade and capital flows. The establishment of NAFTA, on the one hand, has expanded intra-regional trade, but on the other hand, it has also made some countries worry about the rise of trade protectionism, posing a threat to exports to the United States outside the region.

The establishment of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is a historic step in the process of cooperation between China and ASEAN. It fully embodies the good wishes of the leaders of the two sides to strengthen good-neighborly and friendly relations, and also reflects the growing economic ties between China and ASEAN, which is a new milestone in the development of relations between China and ASEAN.

The completion of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area will create an economic zone with 654.38+0.8 billion consumers, nearly 2 trillion US dollars of GDP and 654.38+0.2 trillion US dollars of total trade. In terms of population, this will be the largest free trade zone in the world; In terms of economic scale, it will be the third largest free trade area in the world, after the EU and NAFTA, the third largest free trade area created by China and ASEAN 10 countries, and the largest free trade area composed of developing countries.

NAFTA has both developed countries with strong economic strength (such as the United States) and developing countries with low economic development level. The comprehensive national strength and market maturity of the members in the region vary greatly, and their economies are highly complementary. While giving full play to their comparative advantages, each member country promotes the industrial restructuring and economic development of developing countries in the region through free trade and investment, thus narrowing the gap with developed countries.

The North American Free Trade Area is a free trade area dominated by the United States, and the economic operation of the United States occupies a leading and dominant position in this area. Because the United States is the country with the highest economic development level and the strongest comprehensive strength in the world; Although Canada is a developed country, its gross national product is only 7.9% of that of the United States (1996 data), and its economic strength is far inferior to that of the United States. As a developing country, Mexico is highly dependent on the American economy. Therefore, the direction and process of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) largely reflects the will of the United States.

Since the entry into force of the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the US import tariff on Mexican products has decreased by an average of 84%, while the Mexican import tariff on American products has only decreased by 43%. Mexico has a long transition period in products with weak competitiveness such as meat, dairy products and corn. Meanwhile, some uncompetitive industrial sectors have a buffer period of 10 ~ 15 years.

The establishment of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is of positive significance to both China and ASEAN. On the one hand, the establishment of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is conducive to consolidating and strengthening the friendly and cooperative relations between China and ASEAN, to the unity and cooperation between China and developing countries and neighboring countries, and to improving the status and role of ASEAN in international affairs. On the other hand, it is conducive to further promoting the respective economic development of China and ASEAN, expanding the scale of trade and investment between the two sides, promoting the logistics, capital flow and information flow of countries in the region, promoting the development of regional markets, creating more wealth, improving the overall competitiveness of the region and seeking well-being for the people of all countries in the region. At the same time, the establishment of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is conducive to promoting ASEAN economic integration and has a positive effect on world economic growth.

There is no supranational organization in NAFTA and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, so there is no complicated issue of sovereignty transfer. However, due to the prominent position of the United States, the construction of NAFTA more reflects the strategic intention of the United States, and the United States has a relatively more say in both the formulation of rules and organizational arrangements. The unilateral preferential treatment given to Mexico by the United States is not only a concentrated expression of its leading role as a big country, but also an important guarantee for the institutionalization of the North American Free Trade Area. At the same time, the United States and Mexico get what they need through mutual concessions of economic interests or political interests. Driven by the United States and assisted by Canada and Mexico, it has become a prominent feature of the North American Free Trade Area. The restriction of non-governmental organizations on the leading role of member governments can not be ignored in NAFTA, even in the absolutely dominant and dominant United States. For example, the leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico formally signed the North American Free Trade Agreement as early as 1992 12, but they signed two parallel agreements-NAFTA labor cooperation agreement and NAFTA environmental cooperation agreement, which finally cleared the way for the US Senate and House of Representatives to take advantage of Mexico's cheap labor and low environmental protection. It can be seen that the construction and effective operation of NAFTA also depends on the coordinated promotion of the government and parliament.

Therefore, due to the low level of regional economic integration, liberalization is limited to trade and extends to the investment field at most. Compared with the EU, NAFTA and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area have neither complicated transfer of national sovereignty, nor constraints of non-governmental organizations, nor referendums, so the governments of member countries with relatively few constraints naturally play a stronger role in promoting regional economic integration. In addition, the construction of both of them stems from strategic considerations under the background of vigorous development of regional economic integration: the former is to counter the European Union and play an exemplary role, thus promoting the realization of the idea of a free trade area of the Americas, while the latter is to enhance political mutual trust through bilateral economic cooperation, expand influence and voice on the international stage, create a peaceful and stable regional development environment, and then promote regional economic integration in East Asia. Because it is a strategic need, the government's promotion role is naturally more obvious. It is worth noting that only from the actual role of the government, NAFTA and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area cannot be compared with the EU. No member country can freely face all kinds of competition and challenges from home and abroad alone, and the motivation to pursue higher goals is stronger; Regional economic integration can not only better realize the fundamental interests of member countries, but also enable them to obtain benefits that are difficult for them to obtain through the distribution of benefits, instead of facing the problem that the distributable economic benefits obtained by * * * are relatively less than the strategic benefits of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. The governments of member countries have a strong desire and practical role in promoting regional economic integration.

Compared with NAFTA, the member governments of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area are subject to the least external constraints, and the government plays a more significant role in promoting regional economic integration, and can achieve the established goals and interests faster and better. However, it is precisely because of the lack of necessary checks and balances that the government is likely to pay more attention to strategic interests and ignore economic interests, which will greatly reduce the economic interests that should be realized in regional economic integration, thus weakening the incentives and motivation for all parties within each member to participate in regional economic integration. At the same time, the partners of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area have all been colonized and attached great importance to national sovereignty, so it is difficult to break through the transfer of sovereignty required by the development of regional economic integration. The commitment-oriented restraint mechanism and the lack of a unified mandatory standing body and a perfect supervision mechanism can easily make the government do whatever it wants, and its actions lag behind the actual needs, which will inevitably restrict the in-depth development of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area to a certain extent.

I have written this paper before. Although it was copied, it can still be used.