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There are some 200 economic integration agreements in effect around the world already, far more than even a few years ago. Virtually every country is now party to one or more free trade agreements. Supporters argue that free trade is good for nations.

  1. What is the basis for their support? That is, what are the specific benefits that countries seek by joining an economic bloc?
  2. What is the main economic bloc for your country?
  3. From your perspective, what advantages has bloc membership brought to your country?
  4. What disadvantages has bloc membership produced?

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Insha Fatima
Insha FatimaLv10
28 Sep 2019

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Related questions

Question 6: Which of the following economic goals focuses on equal opportunities for education? (5 points)

-Equity

-Freedom

-Growth

-Security

Question 7: Marcel takes out student loans and works part-time to put himself through college. In time, he earns an advanced medical degree and goes to work in an understaffed city -hospital. Marcel's economic decisions benefit the goal of efficiency by (5 points)

-making his own job

-related decisions

-paying back loans to reduce the debt

-contributing to the nation's productivity

-taking advantage of equal opportunities

Question 8: Two countries produce milk and dairy products efficiently. Neither has an absolute advantage. However, Country A exports milk to Country B, and Country A imports cotton from Country B. Which of the following is inferred? (5 points)

-The opportunity cost of producing milk is lower for Country A.

-The opportunity cost of producing cotton is higher for Country B.

-Country A has a natural resource advantage in cotton.

-Country B has a natural resource advantage in milk.

Question 9: Worker hours to produce one unit of natural gas; Worker hours to produce one unit of oil; Brazil 4 9; Argentina 2 10; Mexico 3 7; United States 1 6. According to the chart, which country has the comparative advantage in oil production? (5 points)

-Brazil

-Mexico

-Argentina

-United States

Question 10: The United States can manufacture books at a much more rapid pace than manufacturers in Indonesia. Which of the following is a reason? (5 points)

-Indonesia, as a developed country, has a highly paid and experienced workforce

-Indonesia, as a developing country, has a less advanced manufacturing infrastructure

-The United States, as a developing country, has a high comparative advantage in manufacturing.

-The United States, as a developed country, has a lower cost of living than Indonesia

Question 11: A group of nations establishes a free-trade zone. What is the most likely effect? (5 points)

-Cost of trade increases

-Exports decrease

-Imports decrease

-Trade increases

Question 12: The United States may have a tariff on cotton products from China in order to (5 points)

-prevent Chinese manufacturers from losing profit because of low prices

-protect the business of the American cotton growers and manufacturers

-stop trade due to political disagreement on economic policy

-promote sales in the United States of cotton products from China

Question 13: A Chinese international salesperson hoping to increase exports to the U.S. may worry about the inflation of the U.S. dollar because the inflation may (5 points)

-increase the United States' supply of Chinese products

-decrease tariffs on Chinese products sold to the United States

-increase taxes on the United States' products sold to China

-reduce the United States' demand for Chinese products

Question 14: How would a strong U.S. dollar impact the trade of grain produced in the United States? (5 points)

-U.S. grain exports decrease

-U.S. grain exports increase

-U.S. grain imports decrease

-U.S. grain imports stagnate

Question 15: Which of these can be a result of inflation? (5 points)

-Businesses grow cautious about spending

-The government has to cut spending

-The price of household items increases

-Workers benefit from a lower cost of living

Question 16: If the inflation rate increases faster than their income, people will most likely (5 points)

-use a higher proportion of their incomes on basic needs

-spend a lower proportion of their incomes on basic needs

-get more goods and services for less money

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Question 17: To increase your standard of living, your wages must (5 points)

-rise faster than the inflation rate

-rise more slowly than the inflation rate

-keep pace with the inflation rate

-have a negative inflation rate

Question 18: Look at the map showing the European Union (EU) and its free-trade agreement (FTA) countries. Which is true about most current EU free-trade agreements? (5 points)

-The European Union's free-trade agreements are with all of the most developed nations in the world.

-The European Union's free-trade agreements include agreements with both developed and developing nations.

-The European Union's free-trade agreements focus on nations with access to overland trade routes

-The European Union's free-trade agreements focus on the Southern Hemisphere, as distant countries have access to goods not grown in Europe.

Comment this discuss in few paragraph ?

Cultural Differences and Ethical Standards

Should you pay the 10 percent commission? Justify your response.

The type of country in which this scenario takes place. As Hill (2009) points out there are high and low context countries. Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries are high context countries where the message must be interpreted based on not only what was said, but the person's social status, and other cultural indicators present (Hill, 2009). In low context countries, what is said is the message and there is no need for further interpretations (Hill, 2009). Therefore, it would depend on where this interaction is occurring and who is asking for the commission (status, rank, business title, etc). These commissions may be a normal part of doing business in a certain region of the country. However, there are strict laws governing bribes (Mestre, 2015) and if I suspected that this commission was a bribe for business or personal advantage, then I would not pay the commission. This would eventually have a detrimental effect on my business and go against my ethics.

Does it make a difference if your competitors routinely pay such commissions? Explain why this may or may not have an impact on your decision.

As Mestre (2015) explains, bribes are so wide spread that the fundamental alter the business landscape in certain markets. As he states, there is a, "barrage of extortionate demands for bribes in foreign markets (p.2)." Unfortunately, bribes reward the corrupt and not eh efficient which a free market should award the most competitive and efficient company (Mestre, 2015). So these types of "commissions" are frequent around the world and should be calculated in to a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis when deciding to enter a certain foreign market. A company needs to decide what risks they are willing to take to enter into a new market. Will they pay bribes furthering the decline of a market and risk large legal penalties? Or will they not pay the bribes knowing that this will make it harder for them to do business in that market?

Do you think there should be more or fewer attempt to regulate international ethics? Why? Justify your answer using the research you have done in preparation for this assignment.

The United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) both have areas that monitor and regulate ethics (websites, ND). Additionally, the United States and other countries have, for example, anti-bribery laws that penalize both the bribe giver and taker (Mestre, 2015). Given all of the regulation, there is still wide spread corruption in the global marketplace (Mestre, 2015). Additionally, new technologies far exceed the pace of legislating new laws and policies (Herther, 2018). Therefore, it seems like a combination of corporate ethic policies, government intervention, and international trade agreements can help to combat unethical behavior in international business. It is important to have multiple areas of regulation as ethical behavior varies by country. For example, what Americans consider unethical may not be unethical in another country.

Mexico's automobile industry is booming. Bolstered by $19 billion in new investment from foreign carmakers, including Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen, and Mazda, vehicle production doubled between 2009 and 2014 to an estimated 3.2 million vehicles. This investment surge has transformed Mexico into the eighth-largest automaker in the world, and it's not over yet. In 2014 and 2015, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai-Kia, BMW, and Volkswagen all outlined plans to build new state-of-the-art factories in Mexico. Audi is also constructing a $1.3 billion factory that is slated for producing luxury sport-utility vehicles. The Audi factory is scheduled to open in 2016. Taken together, these new factories represent another $20 billion in investment that will push Mexico past Brazil and South Korea to become the sixth-largest car producer in the world by 2020 with an annual output of 4.7 million vehicles (for comparison, the U.S. industry makes some 11.5 million autos a year). The initial stimulus for the dramatic growth of the Mexican auto industry was the establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. Prior to NAFTA, Mexico's auto industry was small and protected from foreign competition by high tariff barriers. Car prices in Mexico were two to three times higher than in the United States. Not only were cars in Mexico more expensive, exporting or importing cars and parts was also very tough. Shipments got delayed at the border and were difficult to move around because of poor infrastructure, which is a major problem in an industry in which tight logistics is critical. NAFTA removed most tariff and nontariff barriers to trade between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. This initially led to a flood of low-priced auto imports into Mexico from the United States, but it also gave auto manufacturers based in Mexico duty-free access to the large U.S. market next door. With labor costs in Mexico just a fraction of those in the United States, auto manufacturers now had to consider Mexico when planning new plants to serve the North American market. Mexico's shift to free trade didn't stop with NAFTA. Mexico spent much of the 2000s hammering out free trade deals with over 40 other countries, including the 28 states of the European Union, Japan, and Brazil. These deals give auto factories based in Mexico duty-free access to markets that contain 60 percent of the world's economic output, and they have helped transform Mexico into the fourth-largest auto exporter in the world. Eighty percent of the cars now produced in Mexico are exported to other countries, two-thirds of them to the United States. This unprecedented network of regional trade agreements has given Mexico an important edge when it comes to attracting new investment. For example, when BMW ships cars to Europe from its 20-year-old plant in South Carolina, it is hit with a 10 percent import duty. For a $50,000 car, that amounts to $5,000, which is a much bigger factor than differences in labor costs. A factory in Mexico can supply both the U.S. and the EU markets with duty-free automobiles. This was a major factor behind BMWs 2014 decision to build a new factory in central Mexico rather than the United States, far outweighing the $500 a car labor cost advantage that Mexico currently enjoys over the United States. The new BMW factory will supply the U.S. and EU markets, as well as Latin America. Indeed, because of differences in trade barriers, a car exported from the United States to Brazil costs 55 percent more than one exported from Mexico. As Mexico's auto industry has grown, auto-part suppliers have also followed manufacturers to Mexico. The large auto parts supplier Delphi, for example, has 30 factories in Mexico and generates revenues of $3 billion in the country. Employment at Delphi's facilities doubled to 24,000 between 2007 and 2014. Infrastructure has also improved dramatically, and customs clearance at the border is now quick and efficient. All of this bodes well for the future of the Mexican auto industry. However, not everyone is happy with what has happened. Some argue that growth in Mexico has come at the expense of factories in the United States, which has had a negative impact on employment growth in the U.S. auto industry. When BMW decided to build a factory in central Mexico, for example, it meant that it would not be expanding its South Carolina plant. The South Carolina plant will continue to operate, and no plants have been closed as a result of the growth of production in Mexico, but it is true that new plants are increasingly being located south of the border. Sources: Joann Muller, America's Car Capital Will Soon Be... Mexico,€ Forbes, July 20, 2014; Dudley Althaus and William Boston, Trade Pacts Give Mexico an Edge,” The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2015; Sonari Glinton, How NAFTA Drove the Auto Industry South, National Public Radio, December 8, 2013; Serena Maria Daniels, Twenty Years after NAFTA, a Mini Detroit Rises in Mexico,” Bridge, September 25, 2014. CASE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What was the initial impact of NAFTA on the U.S. and Mexican automobile markets? Who benefited most from this?

2. How did the impact of NAFTA start to change location decisions by automobile manufacturers over the years? How did this start to impact automobile production in Mexico and the United States?

3. Mexico has been very proactive in signing regional free trade deals in addition to NAFTA. How has this strategy impacted automobile consumers and producers in Mexico? How has it impacted automobile consumers and producers in the United States?

4. What lessons can United States policymakers draw from the growing success of the Mexican automobile industry that can be applied to future free trade deals, such as the deal currently being negotiated between the United States and the European Union?

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