Global trade involves transactions of goods and services between countries. While trade connects the world, it often benefits developed countries more than developing countries. Workers in developing countries may labor in poor conditions to produce goods that are highly profitable for developed countries. Some argue these inequalities are an inevitable part of international trade. However, others believe trade agreements could be renegotiated to better consider factors like environmental protection, public health, and inequality between rich and poor nations, even if it comes at a cost to the most powerful countries. Opinions on how to make global trade more equitable while maintaining its benefits are mixed.

1. GLOBAL TRADE
JIMENA TIMPANARO

2. WHAT IS GLOBAL TRADE?
• The worldwide business that involves making and collecting
payments for transactions in goods and services, and
transporting them to interested markets.

3. TASK
Read the text and
investigate more about the
issue in order to answer the
following questions.

4. DO YOU CONSIDER THESE SORTS OF
RELATIONSHIPS TO BE AN INEVITABLE PART OF
GLOBAL TRADE?
• Regrettable the world trade is unequal. Developed countries receive
more benefits than developing countries. Although it’s unfair, this
was decided with the international division of labor. However, we
should all work to get the same benefits. I don’t think it’s inevitable,
but big powers make us believe it’s like that. While someone working
under bad conditions makes a product (developing or undeveloped
countries), someone in another part of the world sells it much more
expensive than what it cost to produce it (developed countries). So,
the developed countries earn a lot of money from something they
didn’t do and it cost less. However, anything done to change this
relations of power, would be a “threaten” to the most powerful
countries.

5. SHOULD FACTORS SUCH AS THE ENVIRONMENT,
HUMAN HEALTH, OR THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND
POOR PLAY A GREATER ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS, WHATEVER THE COST?
• Yes, they should. The environment, the human health and the
social clases are important issues and we shouldn’t put them
below our consumist-driven lifes. In this way, we are putting
our lives on risk. I believe we should take care about people’s
health and the environment instead of looking the way to have
more money or be more powerful.

6. WHAT IS YOUR OWN OPINION ABOUT THE
ISSUE?
• I believe we need global trade, in this way, we keep all the
world connected. We should profit from the technology which
allows us carry out this globalization. However, instead of
profiting from it, we are doing the opposite, the only ones
getting benefits are the richest countries which are more
developed, while in the developing countries people works
under bad conditions and in clandestine workshops. Besides,
they receive very little from the total amount earn in the global
trade from their product.

7. WHAT MORE CAN YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THIS
ISSUE? MAKE A SUMMARY OF THE DIFFERENT
OPINIONS YOU FIND.
• According to what I read in the website from World Economic Forum, Donald
Trump (US President) and Bernie Sanders (candidate for US president), both
opposed to the global trade agreements. Sanders claimed to renegotiate global
trade agreements for the interest of the working people. Trump denounced
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreemente) and rejected the TPP, the
WTO, and KORUS (Korea Free Trade Agreement). He withdrew immediately from
the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), which experts often described as a pillar of
U.S. Robert Manning, a reporter agrees with Trump adding “While trade was a
large factor in the 1980s and 1990s, in this century the technology and
automation have caused the vast majority of job losses. Moreover, updating
trade accords to address rules for new technologies like digital commerce, the
environment, and other factors is reasonable.” However, the reporter, Dani
Rodrik, who studied at Harvard University, believes that “trade rules that are
more sensitive to social and equity concerns in the advanced countries are not
inherently in conflict with economic growth in poor countries”. He says that
trade benefitted developing economies and that China and Vietnam took

8. SOURCES CONSULTED
• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/this-is-how-
global-trade-can-tackle-both-poverty-and-inequality
• https://www.google.com.ar/amp/foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/
05/will-global-trade-survive-2018/amp/