The Pollution Transfer Problem In The International Trade

With the rapid development of international trade and the increasingdeterioration of ecological environment in the world today, many people began to cast their doubts on the pollution transfer problem. The pollution transfer from the developed countries to the developing ones means that a country transfers hazardous wastes or pollution-intensive industries that would cost a large amount of money to dispose or be hazardous to the other countries by means of international trade, which is a common phenomenon among the international trade. It has already become an important way that developed countries dispose of harmful wastes of various kinds, and also hinders seriously the economic development of the import country. In fact, the pollutants are mainly shifted from the developed countries to the developing countries because of inconsistent environmental norms. As a result, the environment of the developing countries is polluted, the natural resources are exhausted, and the health of people is seriously threatened. In the long run, the economic potential of the developing countries will be weakened, while the developed countries will escape their environmental pressure and still make a considerable profit from the transfer. How to guard against international pollution transfer is an important issue that many developing countries are faced.The fundamental structure of this thesis is to analyze the problem of pollution transfer from the developed countries to the developing ones from quantitative and qualitative research methods. The main theoretical foundations used in this thesis are the comparative advantage theory and so-called economic rationality theory. And then, by way of giving a brief account of the current situation and present trends of the pollution transfer as well as making use of some relevant data, the reasons and the mode of the pollution transfer will be further explored in this thesis. Through analysis of the pollution transfer, we will discuss particularly its status and the reasons of its formation in China as well as its impact on China. In order to prevent our country from becoming "world garbage dump", the strategies to deal with the pollution transfer problem should be suggested and discussed. At present, we should not only perfect the environmental legislations and environmental standard system, build up green trade barrier, establish the environmental tariffs, but also enhance public environmental consciousness, strengthen international cooperation for perfecting international law and urging the developed countries to control the pollution transfer. In view of these countermeasures, stress will be laid on the environmental tariffs imposed as one of the measures that are adopted to limit the problem of pollution transfer. The partial equilibrium method will be adopted to analyze the economic effect of the environmental tariffs imposed to solve the pollution transfer, and we would find whether the environmental tariffs are regarded as an appropriate way to limit the pollution transfer in the developing countries or not.