Doha Rounds

El objetivo de este artículo es indagar en las vinculaciones entre la política comercial externa norteamericana durante la administración Obama y algunos de los principales cambios sucedidos durante la última década en las relaciones comerciales internacionales. Nuestra hipótesis sostiene que fenómenos como la parálisis de las negociaciones de la Ronda Doha y el avance de las negociaciones de acuerdos “Megarregionales” guardan una estrecha relación con las modificaciones de la política comercial externa norteamericana del período 2009-2015. Desde la perspectiva de los bienes públicos, sostendremos que durante la presidencia de Barack Obama, EEUU ha priorizado la construcción de bienes públicos “exclusivos” por sobre los regímenes multilaterales que representen bienes públicos “no-discriminatorios”.  El trabajo se inscribe dentro de una interpretación realista de las transformaciones de la Economía Política Internacional. Se trata de un trabajo descriptivo-explicativo, cuya metodología se ha centrado en el análisis de contenido de fuentes documentales: “The President’s Trade Policy Agenda” del período 2009 a 2015 y la “Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015’’

This article is an attempt to analyze the need for negotiations (if any) for India, in the sector of ‘Enhanced Healthcare’ which is one of the 14 sectors in the Sectoral Negotiations (a component of Non Agricultural Market Access) of the ongoing Doha round. This is done by looking at various components of the Doha Round Sectoral Proposals specifically from India’s context. We have compared India’s competitiveness with the four countries, i.e., US; Singapore; Switzerland and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, which have proposed 25 product categories (i.e., 25 chapters in HS nomenclature) in this sector for free trade and hence are called as ‘the proponents’ of this sector. We have used two trade indicators, growth rate of exports and revealed comparative advantage, for analyzing the India’s relative competitiveness. Both the trade indicators show that India does have a comparative cost advantage to be one of key players in this sector. However, this opportunity has to be reaped judiciously by Indian government so as to make best use. Also, at same time the need of the hour is that the government should invest in this sector so as to meet the basic international standards and thereby helping not only the Indian populace but also the industry as a whole.