The World Trade Liberalization and the Importance of Regional Agreements using the Example of the European Union and Canada

Deepening globalization of the world economy characterized by a growing volume of cross-border transactions of goods, services and capital, initiates an objective need for liberalization of international trade. Formation of preferential trading agreement, such as free trade agreements (FTAs), brings urgent need to assess and quantifies the effects of FTAs by General Equilibrium Model (CGE). CGE model was used to assess the effects of the upcoming Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between EU and Canada. The quantitative analysis estimates the potential economic effects of the full removal of tariffs on bilateral trade in goods, a partial reduction of the cost of non-tariff barriers on trade in goods, and a partial liberalization of bilateral trade in services. Canada and the EU launched negotiations for CETA in 2009, and have a target date of early 2012 for completing them.