International Trade

You might not have notice, but international trade accounts for many things you consume and use every day. Foods ,technologies, clothes, books, instruments, furniture, etc., the exchange of goods and services between countries has make it possible for people to acquire different goods and services all around the world.So the next time you wanted some Cambodian tobacco, Albanian footwear, or maybe some Mexican marijuana, you maybe able to find it in the area near you (I'm just kidding about the marijuana, don't do drugs!).

So international trade sounds cool, isn't it? To be able to purchase things originates from differnt parts of the worlds to me is just amazing. But international trade does have some negative sides. An article from fte.org said:

"Trade issues occasionally dominate and are a continuing theme of the international scene: the global market, sweatshops, child labor, trade deficits, the euro, sanctions, tariffs, embargoes, and the EU, NAFTA, WTO – the seemingly endless alphabet of interest groups, treaties, organizations, and trade agreements."

We see that there is a wide variety of issues relating to international trade, from markets to labors to currency values and even to world organizations. What makes this an issues is that many countries in the world depend on trades to operate (either through import or export). So when an event affects the flow of international trade, that creates issues. And it is a big issues nevertheless.

With many problems that can affect international trade, one would think that someone need to do something to prevent it, right? Well that's what the organizations mentioned above are for. EU (European Union), USTR (United States Trade Representative), and WTO (World Trade Organization) are organizations dedicated to regulates international trades between nations. They aim to promote a free movement of people, goods, services, and capitals while also to maintain regulations on trade.

One well-known example of an organization that is dedicated to international trade is the WTO. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. With only 640 staffs but an overwhelming 160 member states, it's amazing how WTO can provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements and a dispute resolution process based on WTO's agreement

There are many good benefits that WTO brings like promotes world peace, disputes are handles constructively, trade raises income... But with an organization this famous there's bound to be some bad side to it. People are saying that WTO develop dispute (by allowing countries to sue each other), own way too much power,and is not shy to enforce its power on those who goes against it.

And exactly how can they use it? The answer is sanction. Major worldwide organizations like the UN sometimes use sanction to economically punish a country for various reasons. It can be describe as a sort of carrot-and-stick approach to dealing with international trade and politics. Although this is use to put on pressure to a country's economy with an attempt to solve disputes, sometimes these sanction can cause even bigger problems. I only remember one time in history where a sanction can cause big problems. After WWI, Germany was heavily punished economically. And you know what is the result of that? WWII. So sanction may not be such a good thing at all.

It is true that there are still many problems regarding international trades. Problems that not even international organizations an fully solve. Trade imbalances, competitive advantages, embargoes, tariffs...these are just some of many issues that international trade is facing. Currently there's no way to solve these issues regarding each and every countries in the world because the economy is different between countries and is always changing. But the good new is that while organizations maintain the condition of international trade, many individuals have been studying ways to solve these economic problems. 

So if you are thinking about pursuing a career in economics, study hard and start thinking about problems regarding trade and may be one day you'll be able to solve international trade issues. And for everyone else, lets hope that one day, issues regarding international trades will be solve and it will bring prosperity and happiness to our society.

What is international trade?: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/112503.asp
Problems of international trade: http://www.preservearticles.com/2012022923898/what-are-the-problems-or-difficulties-in-international-trade.html
In depth international trade: http://www.fte.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/tradelessons/
Benefits of WTO: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/10ben_e/10b00_e.htm#10benefit_menu
Bad side to WTO:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/globalism-destroys-america-10-reasons-why-the-world-trade-organization-is-bad-for-the-united-states-economy
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/dark-side-of-the-wto.asp
Sanction: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/10/economic-sanctions.asp