2. What are the new features of trade protectionism?
(1) Since the 1990s, the incidents related to trade barriers have greatly increased, reaching an average of about 260 per year. (2) Trade barriers have become a common phenomenon in the world. Not only developed countries, but also developing countries and regions frequently use anti-dumping measures to protect domestic enterprises. The threshold of trade barriers is getting higher and higher, and countries are constantly improving the quality indicators and requirements of imported products. (4) Trade barriers have been abused by some countries, and the complexity of cases has increased. [Edit this paragraph] Overview of trade protectionism
The idea and policy of restricting imports in foreign trade to protect domestic goods from foreign competition in the domestic market, and to provide various preferential policies for domestic goods to enhance their international competitiveness. In terms of restricting imports, tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers are mainly adopted. The former mainly prevents a large number of imports of foreign goods by imposing high import tariffs; The latter includes a series of non-tariff measures to restrict the free import of foreign goods, such as import license system and import quota system. These measures are also important means for economically underdeveloped countries to protect national industries and develop national economy. For developed countries, it is an important tool to adjust the balance of payments and correct the trade deficit.
In the period of free competition capitalism, capitalist countries with late development often pursue trade protectionist policies. Developed countries advocate free trade, and trade protectionism is only a temporary measure to deal with the crisis. In the monopoly stage, the trade protectionism pursued by monopoly capitalist countries is not only a means to resist the import of foreign goods, but also a means to expand abroad and compete for the world market.
Whether old or new, the central idea of trade protectionism is the same: any economic policy may affect the income distribution pattern of a country, thus causing different reactions from different social classes or interest groups. However, the new trade protectionism is better than the old and new trade protectionism, with the characteristics of strong compulsion, great and direct influence on all parties to trade, wide range of constraints and various forms of expression. Simply put, the main forms of barriers to new trade protectionism include:
1. Green barrier. With the acceleration of industrialization, ecological and environmental problems such as air pollution, greenhouse effect, toxic waste discharge, species extinction and resource depletion are becoming more and more serious, which has aroused great concern in the world. Under the pretext of ecological protection, industrialized countries have formulated a series of harsh environmental protection measures and environmental quality standards higher than the technical level of developing countries, which have built green barriers for their own markets and industries. The main forms are-
Green sign. Also known as green labeling system or environmental labeling system, it refers to a system in which internationally qualified certification bodies certify commodities according to the so-called green standards and issue marks and certificates. Green logo patterns are mostly swans, evergreen trees, dandelions and so on. , which is full of green meaning. Any imported goods without green label will be limited by quantity and price, while those with green label are considered as "green products with reliable environmental quality". The certification standard involved in this is to supervise the environmental behavior in the whole process, including resource utilization, production technology and treatment technology, product recycling and post-use treatment. The products involved are mostly energy-saving and low-consumption products, clean handicrafts and low toxicity. The implementation of the green sign system is conducive to the improvement of people's environmental awareness, the change of values and the enhancement of pollution prevention and control ability. However, due to the differences of environmental standards among countries, developed countries have set higher environmental standards by virtue of their economic and technological advantages, which puts developing countries in a very unfavorable position and objectively sets up trade barriers for developed countries' markets, thus violating the basic norms of fair trade.
Green packaging. All kinds of packaging that do not meet the requirements of environmental protection will cause serious pollution to the environment. Many developed countries have put forward mandatory requirements for packaging hygiene and safety of domestic and imported goods through legislation. Generally speaking, it mainly includes the following aspects: reducing the use of packaging materials by improving the design to save resources; Reuse packaging materials; Use recycled materials to make packaging; The use of biodegradable packaging makes waste packaging rot quickly in the natural environment. To this end, some developed countries have formed new industrial chains through industrial structure adjustment and resource reallocation, which have met the requirements of packaging in environmental protection and promoted economic development; However, due to the lag of developing countries' technical level, values and administrative management, green packaging has become a green barrier for them to enter the markets of developed countries.
Environmental costs. New trade protectionists believe that any product should include environmental and resource costs in its cost and should be calculated based on international environmental standards. If environmental quality is ignored or environmental standards are lowered, its export products will actually have unfair comparative advantages or environmental subsidies, which will lead to unfair competition of products with high environmental standards. Developing countries dump the environment without calculating the green cost in export trade, and should take anti-dumping and countervailing measures to balance the cost difference under different environmental standards. It can be seen that this is a well-designed and constructed green barrier for developing countries.
2. Technical barriers. With the improvement of science and technology and management level, the technical specifications, standards and conformity assessment procedures of products in various countries are becoming more and more scientific and mature, which promotes economic development. However, the technical specifications, standards and conformity assessment procedures formulated by developed industrialized countries according to their economic and technological advantages, as well as the certification standards, evaluation procedures and certification and accreditation systems derived from them are numerous, complex and changeable, subjective, purposeful and harsh, which pose technical obstacles to the products and services of the countries concerned and make it difficult to make a difference.
Market access. Market access is mainly reflected in the formulation of strict and even harsh technical specifications, standards and conformity assessment procedures, which involve the application, health, safety or hygiene of products. For example, since 1994, the ban on azo dyes in printing and dyeing products adopted by German and other developed countries has greatly affected the export of textiles, clothing and other light industrial products in many developing countries and regions, including China, and suffered heavy losses. At present, although China has overcome this technical difficulty, it has also paid a high price. In addition, HACCP, which has been widely accepted and recognized by relevant international organizations and developed countries, clearly stipulates that food packaging needs to indicate the nutritional components of food, which increases the cost of food production enterprises and actually constitutes an import ban on foods lacking technical analysis methods, thus affecting the trade and production of related products. As for the Montreal Protocol to the International Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, it has a serious impact on the export of related products in China. In addition, some countries have stipulated many inspections involving safety and health items, so that imported products may lose business opportunities or cannot be imported due to seasonal demand changes. All these pose serious technical obstacles to the export trade of the countries concerned.
Certification and accreditation system. Certification and accreditation is a system for certification or accreditation of related products according to technical specifications, standards and conformity assessment procedures. Different from trade policy, it needs profound professional background, strong technical support and broad social foundation, as well as supporting humanistic ideas and legal system. Certification and accreditation has a wide range of applicability and equal opportunities, and can examine economic development from a higher strategic (non-local) perspective, so it plays an active role in promoting social progress, enhancing social environmental awareness, standardizing market behavior and realizing sustainable development. However, the benefits brought by this policy can only be enjoyed by countries and regions with similar economic development levels. Products and services without certification are excluded from the market, forming a de facto market barriers, which makes protectionism stronger and deeper, and has a more decisive impact on the economy, making it more difficult for products from developing countries to enter the markets of developed countries.
3. Trade management and others. Trade management is a new trade policy theory based on the new trade theory, and a policy analysis based on the theory of imperfect competitive market, which is suitable for the protection of strategic industrial development in developed countries. Through government intervention in trade activities, the market structure or environment can be changed and the competitiveness of domestic enterprises can be improved. Most of its policy propositions involve voluntary export restraints, subsidies, state trade monopoly and so on. Anti-dumping measures, in particular, have a strong barrier effect and are one of the policy means strongly advocated by new trade protectionists. In addition, measures such as labor standards, regional agreements, tariff escalation protection, gray areas, restrictive assistance or border tax adjustment are also strongly protectionist.
Although the history is not long, new trade protectionism is favored by governments all over the world because of its diversity of forms, effectiveness of means and rationality of technical regulation. Although China has initially established a barrier system with its own characteristics, compared with developed countries, the systematicness, standardization and differences of the system need to be improved and improved, the artistry of policies needs to be strengthened, and the diversity of technical means needs to be further improved. [Edit this paragraph] Characteristics of trade protectionism Trade protectionism has the following characteristics: ① The main means of protection has changed from tariffs to non-tariff measures. A series of resolutions formed in international trade and tariff negotiations have greatly reduced the overall level of tariffs, so countries have turned to non-tariff measures to implement protectionist policies. These measures are flexible, subtle and restrictive, and more than half of the total world trade is subject to various non-tariff restrictions. (2) The protection policy is more and more targeted to products, such as reducing and lowering the restrictions on industrial products, but the protection of agricultural products is rarely loose, and the restrictions on different commodities in industrial products are also very different. (3) The differences between countries and regions targeted by protection policies have been strengthened. Generally speaking, a country always strengthens its protectionist policy towards its direct and powerful competitors, while relaxing it appropriately towards other countries. Most countries in the world adopt free trade and protectionist policies according to their own national conditions and competitors' conditions, with a view to protecting the sustainable development of their own economies and enhancing their international competitiveness.