Trade Alternatives

International Trade, as we’ve noticed, can bring about inequalities and injustices to many people around the globe. Some of the most major inequities are found through unfair treatment in the workplace and inadequate pay for independent farmers. But, what is there to do to end these inequalities brought about by owners of large corporations and their excessive greed to be the most profitable?

As mentioned before, Fair Trade is a good alternative. Buying Fair Trade not only allows for independent workers to get fair prices for the goods they trade, but it is a way for you, the consumer, to know that what you bought wasn’t made by poorly paid and treated employees. Additionally, purchasing Fair Trade products is almost a way to silently protest and let others know that benefiting from others’ hardships should not be tolerated.

Fair Trade is definitely a movement in the right direction to let fellow citizens and politicians know through consumption that trade and its effects need to become more just for everyone.

Is there way to be more direct in lobbying to end injustice through trade? One organization, Oxfam International, is attempting to do so. Basically, they are a group of 14 organizations and over 3,000 smaller, local organizations looking to “lift people out of poverty and injustice” around the globe. They are doing this through raising awareness to everyone about the problems and then campaigning and talking to those who make decisions about altering current policies and regulations to ensure justice. This organization works with multiple issues, but one of the larger ones with which they deal is trade.

This is an image to display Regional Trade Agreements between developing countries

It can be seen that many rich countries are reaping most of the benefits of international trade, while leaving poor countries behind. Oxfam was able to note the five of the major problems which are responsible for these inequities: Dumping, Market Access, Forced Liberalisation, Labour Rights, and Regional Trade Agreements. These are the issues this organization is trying to remedy through the use of the methods listed above.

Oxfam has worked hard to make a difference, and they have definitely come a long way in instilling fair trade between companies and countries. Here are just a few examples…

One of the major achievements is that they were able to talk with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and make it so that poorer countries didn’t have to reduce their tariffs on imported agricultural goods, which are necessary for survival.

They were also able to get almost 20 million people, including many celebrities, to join the Big Noise petition, part of the “Make Trade Fair” campaign, to let leaders and governments know unfair trade isn’t tolerated. The Big Noise petition was paired with a competition to get people around the globe to submit a campaign idea in support of the Make Trade Fair campaign to spread the word.

Campaigning is shown to work: Oxfam spoke with the head of Starbucks and the leaders of Ethiopia to persuade Starbucks to sign a licensing agreement with Ethiopia to sell its coffee products. This was achieved. But, none of this could have been done without the continual and strong campaigning by nearly 100,000 people around the world. Overall, Oxfam believes that this agreement “could change the coffee industry forever.” This is just a small example, of many to come, which shows that change can be made, and equal treatment and fair prices in trade can be achieved through a lot of hard work.

Through the various successful stories shown by the works of Oxfam, and from the continual sales of the Fair Trade products in department stores around the world, change can be made to help reduce the harmful effects of international trade. You can make a difference by simply buying Fair Trade products and knowing that it came from a trustworthy source, by supporting Oxfam international and becoming active in their initiative and quest for an end to poverty and inequality, and by contacting your local representative or leader and ask that they support the ideals that Oxfam and Fair Trade value when making trade related agreements and decisions.

Although there is still much, much to do in terms of reducing trade inequalities, there are definitely alternatives, which can slowly make the world more equal for everyone by ensuring fair treatment and payment.

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Resource Guide to Further Reading

Below is a list of various resources which provide important and valuable information about inequality in trade.

1. Why Trade?
This source gives a basic overview of trade: how it works and why people participate in it. It explains how a country may trade their goods or services with another country if they specialize in some sort of resource, and they may trade in order to receive necessary means to produce a certain product. And, the main idea for global trading is to ultimately create economic growth and obtain maximum profit. This link also provides some very useful pictures and images to further show how trade works.
2. Agricultural Trade and Inequality
This link is particularly eye opening through word and picture. It expresses how with the globalized word of today and increased international trade, many Least Developed Countries (LDCs), as they note, are suffering drastically in agriculture. The article expresses how many people in these LDCs rely a lot on farming, but they are burdened with declining agricultural prices. They receive a meager compensation for all of their work. It continues to name numerous other issues about their competition in the global market, and it suggests a possible remedy.
3. Wage Inequality in Developing Countries
This article proposes a model and analysis which is able to prove how in many developing countries, wage inequality is prevalent through those who export items which are very skill oriented. Although the bulk of this article is related to the model, the beginning provides some shocking information: especially how international and free trade is responsible for 20% of inequality today in the U.S. alone. The article continues on about how this wage problem extends out of the U.S. and to other countries. It think that this article gives some very valuable information showing how globalization and trade have negative impacts.
4. Gender Inequality in Iran
This article is one I have used in one of my previous blogs, but I think that it has some really good information about globalization and inequality (specifically gender) in a trading world. The article gives a little background information about globalization and international trade as it shows how large corporations compete in a “race to the bottom,” attempting to get the best price for their product when trading – at the expense of worker treatment. The remainder of the article shows how many women in Iran face inequality and little compensation for their work as a result of trying to compete with the prices of large companies.
5. Make Trade Fair: A Report
This link is very interesting. It questions why trade, which is supposedly a method for wealth and prosperity, is leaving so many people behind. Not only does it express that there is severe inequality in international trade (especially because of tariffs and subsidies and low prices of goods), but it opts for a solution and a call for action. Although this is just the introduction of a report, it makes the reader, as well as myself, think about what can and should be done to improve the lives of others around us. Also, there are links to the further chapters of the report explaining in more detail about globalization today, poor countries and trade, international trade regulations, and a solution.
6. Why oppose WTO?
This link is part of a Fair Trade organization’s website expressing the negative aspects that the World Trade Organization has on the lives of many workers and people living in developing countries. Many of the arguments made in this article express that the WTO has increased foreign investment, escalating the search for the cheapest labor to new heights. From this site, it also expresses how they increase hunger, harm the environment, and ignore human rights. This is a particularly interesting link because from reading and researching various articles, essays, blogs, and writings, many express how international trade promotes inequality and that the WTO is partially responsible. Thus, I think that this is important information expressing the specifics and what it is that they do in relation to international trade that instills inequality.
7. Trade Tariffs in Poor Countries
Because of reading many articles stating that with international trade came many tariffs barriers for poorer countries, I think that this article does a good job of explaining how these tariffs have impacted developing countries, making it harder and harder for people from these countries to better themselves, compete in the global market, and not be destined for poverty and poor working conditions. The article gives some staggering numbers, such as, when poorer countries trade with other more developed countries, they have to pay four times more than richer countries.
8. A Need for New Rules in International Trade
This article not only expresses how globalization and international trade have influenced inequality in poor nations throughout the globe through unfair treatment of workers, but it expresses how trade affects people in the U.S. – our own country. The author questions the validity of globalization and the WTO, wondering why no benefit has occurred. I think that the best aspect of this article is that it poses a lot of rhetorical questions, making the reader think and truly try to make sense of why so much inequality is going on, and it makes the reader try to think of some sort of solution.
9. Sweatshops and Globalization
I found this article to be particularly enlightening and a definite read. It expresses how globalization and international trade’s “race to the bottom,” has created inequality and poor working conditions for the laborers in sweatshops. It also provides the reader with small anecdotes about the horrible conditions that many of the men and women face in sweatshops. Later in the article it sheds light on a possible alternative view on the economic benefits of working for a sweatshop versus having no job at all. Along with all of this, the author gives a few more links for further reading and information, which is really helpful.
10. Sweatshop Fact Sheet
This article gives a little bit of background about “sweatshops.” It explains the conditions that the workers face, the wages they earn, and how international trade and globalization has influenced such unequal treatment of workers. The article also notes how you, as the consumer, can be notified of whether or not a garment, food, or other item has been made by laborers in a sweatshop. In whole, this link simply explains the basic idea of a sweatshop and its relationship to international trade today.
11. Gender Inequality and Trade
This article is a very good article explaining how gender inequality ties into trade. I seem to like this source because it is able to simply state how women aren’t always treated the same as men in their work and they seem to face more health issues. This article also addresses what could be done so that this inequality between gender ceases, especially through the implementation of different programs and groups. Lastly, it also talks about what the WTO can do better to ensure equality among people. One of the best parts of this source is that not only does it identify the problem, but it attempts to discuss a way to a solution, which is very valuable.
12. Paul Krugman: Trade and Inequality
This blog on trade and inequality gives a more scientific and theoretical approach on the topic. I think that it is really valuable to look at a situation in multiple lenses to ultimately see what the best solution to this inequality problem can be. In whole, this excerpt addresses the trade between the U.S. and China and wage inequality for the U.S. And one of the main conclusions it draws is that this problem has escalated (more than expected) over the last few years. I also think that this link is particularly important because in most cases, people connect inequality and trade with developing countries; however, it can affect our own country as well.
13. Stolper-Samuelson Theory
In the link above, the blog mentions the Stolper-Samuelson paper and theory. And I have included an additional link here to an explanation to that theory. I think it is important to understand it in Layman’s terms in order to fully comprehend the meaning and reasoning behind the conclusion in the above blog. So, this link is a blog explaining the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem: “one of the two factors (of production of goods) must end up worse off as a result of opening up to international trade.” This blog then begins to question whether or not this theory cam be responsible for the low wages and inequality that many workers face.
14. What is Fair Trade?
This is one of many different websites about Fair Trade. One of the particularly neat aspects about this site is that it provides the reader with information about Fair Trade and what it does. It also gives information about how to support it, what products they sell, the producers, and resources to help the reader know as many of the benefits of Fair Trade as possible.
15. About Oxfam International
Aside from Fair Trade, there is another company, or group, entitled Oxfam International that attempts to make trade more equal. They believe that today, all the rules and regulations in international trade are focused mostly on the rich countries and fail to pay attention and care about the well-being of poor countries and their workers. This link provides the reader with information about why they want to make changes to trade today, and they provide a link to their Trade Campaign which attempts to make changes across the globe. Additionally, this website also explains what Oxfam does beside with work with trade: Agriculture, Climate Change, Health, and the list goes on…
16. Benefits of International Trade
This is a very brief article about international, unhindered trade and its benefits. I think that it is important to keep in mind the opposing view and maybe why international trade does have some benefits and doesn’t just cause inequality. In its brevity, it is still able to express some of the key benefits, from an economic perspective: it approves of globalization and that international trade allows for a company to receive greater profit through global interactions; it increases competitiveness; and it also explains about the comparative advantage (lowering the “opportunity cost” of a specific good compared to that of another company) and benefits.
17. Globalization and Trade Benefits
This is another link that I used in one of my previous blogs, but yet again, I think that it is a particularly important one. It also expressed the opposing view and the possible benefits of trade. It explains about free, unhindered, international trade and how it doesn’t always instill poverty and inequality. In fact, it explains a little bit about how trade can create jobs, which were otherwise unavailable to many people in developing countries. Additionally, it helps to improve the economic status of many countries, which can slowly aid in getting various countries to become more prosperous.


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