全球区域化浪潮中的开放区域化研究

Open Regionalism in a New Wave of Regionalization

近年来,区域化组织如风起云涌般在全球各地出现,而且规模也越来越大。一些人认为区域化这种趋势来源于西欧,即1992年欧洲经济共同体的建立;另一些人把这归于美国,即美国丢弃了其反对区域组织的一贯态度于1988年与加拿大签订了自由贸易协议。区域化大潮引发了人们的争议。人们并没有因区域化浪潮及其带来的实际机会而欢欣鼓舞,反而忧虑其可能给关贸总协定和世界贸易组织所倡导的全球自由贸易带来强烈的负面效应。早在1950年,维拉就提出了贸易创造和贸易转移的概念。为减少贸易转移的负面效应,减少社会财富减少的可能性,开放的区域化概念被提出。正如在关贸总协定中麦克米兰所提出的建议:成员国必须降低其对非成员国的贸易壁垒,同时不得降低其对非成员国的贸易额度。在全球贸易区域组织同时迸发的时候,区域组织保持其外部的合适的贸易自由度,能够增加社会总财富。

Regional blocs have spread to the whole world with usual speed. Some believe the box was opened by the Western Europe when they consolidated their European Economy Community by the Single Market Imitative that took effect in 1992 and by the Maastricht Treaty. Others blame the United States for the final shift when it signed a free trade agreement withCanada in 1988 and abandoned its forty years of opposition in principle to regional initiative. The new wave of regionalization calls a controversy. Nobody is excited about the new wave and opportunities it has brought about, but fear it may corrupt the efforts of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade （GATT） or the World Trade Organization （WTO） to make progress toward global free trade. In the early 1950s, Viner called economists＇ attention to the distinction between trade-creation and trade-diversion effects of regional FTAs. In order to minimize the possibility of welfare-reducing trade blocs, the notion of ＂open regionalization＂ is proposed. Trade blocs are required to satisfy the McMillan criterion of not lowering their trade volume with outside countries, they have to engage in a reduction of trade barriers against nonmember countries. Obviously, this is a particular form of open regionalism. We should note that, while an ＂open regionalism＂ with a modest external liberation can be welfare improving, multilateral trade liberalization can be even more so.