Research On Emergency Safeguard Measures Of Cross-strait Trade In Services

The signature and implementation of “Cross-strait Economic Cooperation FrameworkAgreement” mark cross-strait economic exchanges entering a new stage. Since thenormalization of bilateral trade, both the exchanges and cooperation in various fields’continually deepening realize mutual benefit and complementary advantages, whichlays a solid foundation for cross-strait relations’ peaceful development. As its follow-upproject,“Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services” was officially signed on21stJune,2013, thereby expanding the cooperation fields in service trade between the twosides, promoting the development of related industries, and pushing forward the processof cross-strait economic and trade integration at the same time.This paper studies the issue of building the legal system of emergency safeguardmeasures for cross-strait trade in services. As an important way of trade remedies,emergency safeguard measures are equally indispensable in the field of service trade,and will steadily ceaselessly improve with the progress of relevant expertisenegotiations in the WTO. Cross-strait trade in services is in its early stage, and commondevelopment prospects are very broad with the signature of the agreement on servicetrade. However, trade frictions or disputes are inevitable during the process. In order toreduce the possible causing damage to related industries and practitioners, introducingthe mechanism of emergency safeguard measures is imperative. The construction of thistrade protection mechanism plays an important role in undertaking agreement promises,promoting cross-strait economic development, and improving the market’s openinglevel. In addition, establishing the distinctive ESM system in the field of cross-straitservice trade may well be a beneficial attempt to promote regional economic integration,as well as enriching this issue’s practice in the WTO.The author believes that it is necessary to establish in advance the legal mechanism ofemergency safeguard measures in cross-strait sevice trade, and it will be unceasinglyimproved in practice, which may be not only in favor of solving trade disputes in thefuture, but also better promoting further development of cross-strait trade in services;thus making for improving greatly the liberalization level of cross-strait economy andtrade under the premise of ensuring trade security. Under the background of ECFA, this paper discusses the necessity and feasibility of establishing ESM mechanism incross-strait service trade and clarifies its theoretical as well as institutional significanceby analyzing the agreement contents and current status of cross-strait trade in services.In the meanwhile, referring to WTO negotiations’ achievements on safeguard measuresand the legislative practice on this issue in individual economies, it designs ESM legalprocedures on the technical level in accordance with both sides’s realities and in favorof jointly development, and expects the rosy prospect of constructing cross-strait freetrade area from this system conception.