The Influences Of Blue Trade Barriers On China’s Export Of Labor Intensive Products

The blue trade barriers come into emergence as various other types of barriers are constantly induced into current international trade system, where tariffs and the traditional non-tariff barriers to trade have been losing their market share when being confronted with an increasing amount of challenges from a globalizing world and the WTO rules. Blue trade barrier is a new manifestation of trade protectionism of the developed countries who utilize the excuse of protecting the legal rights of the laborers or the excuse. of encouraging the implementation of corporate social accountability. Concealed in these excuses with seeming legality and subtle forms, it has won a extensive favor of the western world as they could use it to restrain the import of labor intensive products from developing countries. Since China is a developing country whose labor intensive products account for a large percentage in its total goods export, a study into the effects of blue barriers on the country’s labor intensive exports would be important and relevant for us to propose some effective strategies for the country.The thesis comes into5sections as follows.Section Ⅰ:the introduction. This section dwells on the background and significance of the topic and then reviews the current libraries and viewpoints on the topic before a brief description of the thesis’s structure, methodology, novelty and inadequacy.Section Ⅱ:the conception and theoretical basis of blue trade barriers. This section involves the definition, features, causes, evolution and theoretical basis of blue trade barriers. To be more substantial, it concludes with an introduction of SA8000which is a bible of blue trade barriers.Section Ⅲ:overall effects of blue trade barriers on China’s export of labor intensive products. The section unfolds to show the adverse effects in a short term, the positive effects in a relatively longer term and the effect on the pattern of labor intensive exports. In particular, the short-term adverse effects are illustrated by a supply-and-demand model analysis while the longer-term positive effects are embodied in the more competitive exports, the optimized export industrial structure and the diminishing trade frictions.Section IV:a case analysis into the effects by the export of China’s textiles and clothes. Grounded in a sketch of the export in the said industries, this case analysis studies the blue barriers confronted China and the reasons for them. Finally, we will dwell on the effect of blue trade barriers on the export of China’s textile and clothing products. To be exact, we will focus on the adverse effect of the blue barriers on the export of China’s textile and clothing products, though some positive effects will also be mentioned.Section V:countermeasures for China to deal with the blue barriers. The section proposes the strategies to be adopted on the levels of the government, the trade associations and the labor intensive enterprises.