GLOBALIZATION, REGIONALIZATION AND WORLD-TRADE

At the very moment the world is moving towards a global economy, countervailing forces attempt to divide it. These divisive forces, simply put, are regional trading blocs. Emmerij ties the current trend toward regionalization to the narrow focus of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which covers less than 10% of all international trade issues. Unless the GATT Uruguay Round can resolve the thorny issues that are breeding protectionism in Japan, the European Community and North America - such as agriculture, textiles, international services and intellectual property rights - Emmerij predicts that a true global economy may never exist.