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Session 1B: Trade and Regional Cooperation (Auditorium 2)

Moderator: Cyn Young Park

Cross-border value chains in developing Asia withstood trade tensions and the global pandemic

Jules Hugot and Reizle Platitas

          This article focuses on developing Asia’s participation in cross-border value chains from 2013–2021. During this period, global trade was disrupted by tensions between the People’s Republic of China and the United States, and then by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using input-output data, we show that (i) regionalization intensified in developing Asia with the US–PRC trade conflict, and (ii) regional value chains helped developing Asia withstand the pandemic.

JEL Code/s: F14, F15

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) and time and costs at border crossing points of perishable goods: Impact on Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) intraregional trade

Dorothea Ramizo and Akiko Hagiwara

          Trade in perishable goods (e.g., food and pharmaceuticals) is crucial in achieving a resilient economy, particularly towards strengthening food security and improving access to medical goods. Using data on bilateral time and cost measures for trade facilitation in CAREC and UNCTAD bilateral data on NTMs, this study employs a gravity model to examine how intraregional trade in landlocked economies is affected by time and cost measures and NTMs imposed on perishable goods. Results show that while time and costs of transporting perishable goods at the border may negatively affect intraregional trade, NTMs on perishable goods have greater impact.

JEL Code/s: F13, F14, F15

The impact of COVID-19 mobility restrictions on trade facilitation at borders in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region

Kijin Kim

          Using monthly bilateral time measures at borders in the CAREC countries, this paper investigates the impact of COVID-19 mobility measures on the time for cargoes to clear at borders. The impulse response function estimation suggests that the time at borders could increase up to 70% when the most stringent level of mobility restrictions is imposed. Tightened mobility restrictions in a trading partner also increases inbound and outbound time in an own country. However, increasing own stringency measures has longer impacts on inbound time while the measure occurring in a partner country has more lingering impact on outbound time.

JEL Code/s: C23; F14; I18

Determinants of trade in climate-smart goods of the People’s Republic of China: The role of environmental regulation, trade policy, renewable energy, and the PRC’s 11th Five-Year Plan

Dorothea Ramizo

          Climate-Smart Goods (CSGs) are products that have no negative effects on the environment and help to address environmental problems. Hence, trade in CSGs play a significant role in promoting a sustainable and resilient development. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the world’s largest exporter of CSGs. Using gravity model, this paper attempts to disentangle the separate and distinct impact of environmental regulation, trade policy measures, and renewable energy consumption on PRC’s exports of CSGs. The paper will also use difference-in-difference approach to understand the role of PRC’s 11th five-year plan on the sudden rise of PRC’s CSG exports.

JEL Code/s: F13, F14, F18