United States Trade Policy with the Middle East - Research Paper Example

United States Trade Policy with the Middle East Introduction The relationship between USA and the rest of the Middle East has certainly seen some interesting twists and turns over the past few years. The political unrest across many countries in the Middle East, specifically in Iran and Iraq have prompted USA and also other countries on the globe to discuss certain approaches and taking course of actions which can help in supporting democratic as well as political transitions in the Middle East (Kershner, 2007) The core emphasis has been placed on the role which economic growth plays in creating solidarity and harmony among certain political transitions across various region. This has prompted calls for great amount of trade and investment among USA and the countries in the Middle East and also calls for support of economic growth which have arrived from policymakers within these countries. Various initiative have been taken which focus on creating free trade agreements (FTAs) and creating deeper and more solid economic ties among the related countries. The core aim of the USA trade and investment policy has been to focus on using trade and investment for developing economic growth and also promoting economic reforms which can help in providing support for successful and stable democratic transitions and help in supporting U.S. foreign policy objectives. The United States' association with the Middle East before World War I was limited, although in early 19th century, commercial links were present. As stated by Perkins (1995), current trading relation between USA and Middle East has seen considerable growth as compared to previous years. This healthy commercial activity has provided employment opportunities to a significant workforce in USA as well as Middle East; however a few traders and investors still don’t have enough faith on this agreement as they don’t think such strategies may be profitable in the long run. Because of this, it is yet to gain appropriate prominence within USA and Middle East. Benefits of the Trade Increases in government spending on the bilateral trade between USA and the Middle East has cause the economical deficit to decrease and has seen an overall increase in monetary supply for the financial sector of both the countries. However, for the stability of the economical sector, it is extremely important for the government of both the countries that core emphasis is placed upon creating enough trading opportunities for themselves and for eradicating unemployment and other adverse economic conditions within the country (Smith, 1995) If the governments of USA and the Middle East are able to implement a successful system for the bilateral trade sector this could help the economy becoming self sufficient in many industrial sectors because such trading activities can help in creating a diversified portfolio and this could result in high levels of productivity and efficiency within a country. Obstacles to Potential Trade Development According to Lesch (2003), regardless of whatever approach the government chooses for the development of trade, there will be some challenges which could be faced in the future. The governments of USA and KSA have initiated some very important strategies for developing the bilateral trade between the countries by providing various incentive schemes and benefits to individuals who invest in the trade. But to implement such crucial economic contributor, government of both the countries have to implement strategies such as increasing investment opportunities, government spending and decreasing tax liabilities. Some of the potential obstacles to Trade and business development are: Weak integration between the global economies: This could be a major source of hindrance which has prevented the regional economies from benefitting from the opportunities of globalization. Financial benefits from naturally resourceful countries in the Middle East have made some shrewd strategies to develop sound economic policies for the development of local industries, which can help in extraction and utilization of natural resources but it could limit the potential of trading potential among other countries. Non-democratic political institutions: Such measures have created a hindrance in potential innovation and economic competition which has also lead to slow economic growth as well as distortions in the economy. Lack of government infrastructure spending: A huge portions of the government’s budget of countries like USA has been going to defense and subsidies and they have been sacrificed for improvement of other economical needs Women constitute a low proportion of the labor force: Specifically in countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, women have been prevented from working and this has stopped such countries from tapping all its productive potential. Key components of Trade between Middle East and USA The trade agreement between Middle East and USA is influenced by several key components. Some of them are as follows: The influence of World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO has been quite influential in the development of trade between USA and the Middle East. WTO has tried its level best to help certain countries in qualifying for membership of this important global body. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon and Algeria have been approached for membership to this very important group and achievement of this important motive requires a sound theoretical framework of intellectual property rights, customs, traditions, procedures, customs and tariffs (Dawisha, 2003). However, due to the complicated nature of the global trade policy, it is difficult to derive any result from any potential commitments. USA’s formulation of Generalized System of preferences The USA has formed a very important trading program known as the Generalized System of Preferences which was interlinked with the Trade Act of 2002. The program offers duty free trade agreements for more than 3,500 products. In 2010, almost $298 million in duty-free trade agreement took place between USA and the Middle East within the stipulation of this program. Bilateral trade and investment treaty One of the most important and most productive components of the trade agreements between USA and the Middle East is the bilateral trade and investment treaty. From a literal point of view, a bilateral trade and investment treaty provides a vivid assurance of how investors will be treated and what recourse will be provided to them if there is any dispute or conflicts among the related parties. A trade and investment framework agreement is the starting point for a more in-depth trade relationship between the USA and the Middle East. Although the bilateral trade is not a free-trade agreement but it certainly develops a process of setting up business and trade councils where business problems can be evaluated and solved and this approach could become a stepping stones in an interlinked trade relationship between USA and the Middle East. Free-trade agreements The free-trade agreements on certain products between USA and Middle East have increased the potential for trade between both USA and the Middle East. Here have been several countries across the globe that has tried to form a free-trade agreement with USA due to the lower custom and excise on goods (Perkins, 1995). The USA and Middle East free trade agreement has a totally different dimension to free-trade agreements between USA and the Middle East. The free-trade agreement between USA and Middle East serves as a seal of economic approval and helps in covering certain very important aspects of trade and in the buying and selling of goods and services which include agriculture, services, intellectual property rights, and transparency provisions (Péridy, 2005). Trade capacity building The trade capacity building is one of the most important concepts which have come into process for the trading capacity between USA and the Middle East. In 2004 President Bush had invested more than $900 million for the consistent development of Trade between USA and the Middle East. According to some critics, the trade relation between the USA and the Middle East may seem to be a move which may involve in building a treaty which is necessary for negotiating some complicated subjects between both the regions. On the contrary, it may mean creating a win-win situation for both the countries. When having a glance at the number of challenges which are currently being faced by Middle East, there are numerous issues which are being brought forward in this regard, such as, Iran and Iraq issue, Israel and Palestine harmony issue and also the democratic state issue. Amongst these and other issues, the core issue which unfortunately hasn’t been able to gather the attention, is the economic issue, because in order to accomplish the long term regional revolution, economics must be made, the centre of attention. Besides assisting in achieving economic prosperity, trade aids a country to generate opportunities for it to improve economic and political relations with other nations and it also directly or indirectly promotes world peace too. Furthermore, trade is also regarding the values, which really matters to United States of America. The contrasting image of Middle East It would be incorrect to state that Middle East is also amongst one of those regions which can be categorized as a land of opportunities. Because, this region have plenty of human resources and if these human resources are appropriately exploited, then there is no doubt that this region would eventually be able to accomplish a tremendous economic wealth and success (Owen, 2002). The Middle East region was once used to be the hub of world trade and commerce, because in the past, this region was used to be the trading base amongst various regions, such as, Europe, Caspian region, Africa, India and china, where various products and services were exchanged. Besides that, one of the most significant developments in the commerce industry was the introduction of letter of credit to the business world, and its foundation was laid in the Middle East region. In a nutshell, the Middle East region had a major contribution in laying and further enhancing the underpinning of global trade and commerce Presently, the majority of the Middle East region has been detached from the merits of globalization, because the national borders, in this region, are restricted, its industries are not privatized or even semi-privatized and most importantly, it has an oppressive government. Besides that, several people have claimed that the Middle East region have well-established poverty, which may be another cause of its failure to capitalize the opportunities from global trade. Even though, the Middle East region’s history indicates that it has achieved a few successes in trade and commerce sector. But presently, this region is dealing with a number of critical economic issues. Some of the states in the Middle East face a series of serious economic challenges. Some of the citizens in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq are facing from adverse economical and financial conditions and are living on less than two dollars a day. The share of international trade of countries like Iran and Iraq is one of the smallest in the world. From 1990 to 2000, some parts of the Middle East had attracted as a meager foreign direct investment of only 0.7 percent of the total world population. The average global FDI at that time was 6%. As compared to UAE and Qatar, the global exports of countries Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan merely grew by 1.5 % (Bennis and Leaver, 2005). There are some positive changes in the Middle East since the past few decades. From 1990 to 2010, the overall literacy rate for adults in the Arab states rose from 55% to a massive 75%. This is a certainly a very high percentage and it does indicate a positive change (UNESCO, 2012). Importance of the Middle East economical analysis The economical and social analysis of the Middle East has a huge impact on the trade policy of the USA. Improving prospects for health and education give an optimistic view about the social and economical prosperity in the USA. These statistics can be defined as the cornerstone of development. Though a massive point of concern in the Middle East is the lack of freedom and liberty and it has created hindrance in the consistent development of the region (Foseide, 2008). Opportunities for women are limited and gender discrimination has been relatively high in some parts of the Middle East. However there are huge hidden economic opportunities in this vast region and that is what the USA has always been interested in. With a population of more than 312 million, the Middle East is certainly one of the fastest growing regions in the world. The statistics of the region certainly represent an untapped market which may offer unlimited potential for trade. Though one cannot deny the fact that, just like its fellow countries, USA is competing in the global market. However there are some very important strategies and tactics which can prove to be a source of integral opportunity for the USA as well as the Middle East. Initiatives taken by USA in promoting Trade and Investment Besides the rule-based trade and official contracts to promote trade and commerce, the United States of America has organized some federal programs as well, specifically for the encouragement of international trade and commerce. Amongst these federal programs, the most vital programs for the Middle East countries are Generalized System of Preferences, Qualifying Industrial Zones, export finance program and further various support programs as well, which are operated by different agencies of the federal government of the United States of America. Some of them are as follows: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Under the generalized system of preferences program, the United States of America offers various incentives to specific developing countries, from which it imports goods or services. Under this program, countries like Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia, the West Bank/Gaza Strip, and Yemen come under an influential circle. One of the key incentives which this program offers to those specific countries is, exemption regarding the payment of import duty. For the specific countries, to avail such trade incentives from the United States of America, the primary stipulation is to fulfill all the terms and conditions, related to trade, investment and labor. However, the GSP program growth rate, in the specific countries, has been very much on the lower side, as the countries represented only 0.8% of the USA’s total imports from the countries under the GSP program (Jones et al, 2010). The core reason behind this fact is almost most of the exports of the middle east countries represents oil exports and because oil exports doesn’t form part of the GSP program, these countries are unable avail the incentives under this program. Besides that, the major exports of these countries include, iron and steel, which have been eradicated from the GSP program. Government Export Finance and Promotion Programs The government of the United States of America, with the assistance of its various central government agencies, participates vigorously in the USA’s exports of various goods and services by overseeing the different kinds of export support programs. The USA export support programs are being managed by a group of congressional authority and executive branch proceedings. Some of the major federal government’s export support agencies, which can enhance the trade relations with the Middle East, include the Department of Commerce and the Export-Import bank. Some of the other federal government’s export support agencies, such as, Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Trade and Development Agency have been offering assistance to USA’s investments and exports with specific countries. The amenities which these agencies have been offering to specific countries, fluctuate, as per their different trade assignments and their accessibility to the available resources, Political Influence on Trade policy of USA with the Middle East The trade and commercial agreement between the USA and the Middle East is certainly not influenced only by economical and financial motives but it is a totally diversified framework which is influenced by political structure, labor market formation, national strategy of human resource management, the culture of the country and most importantly political structure. The political structure of the Middle East relies heavily on traditional Islamic values and customs while USA is more of a free trade economy with a liberal perspective (Nadia, 2007). USA is creating a better and secure environment with its approach. With a secure environment, the country will have to create economic opportunity; there are aspects related to oil, debt, currency, food, and medicine which are related to it. The governments have always been fully committed for the success of these initiatives. But they do need the support of many others, including big corporations. This can be important in sectors such as investment, financial services, manufacturing, and so on. Within the Middle East, the competition level is very limited and restricted due to different reasons which include barriers to penetrate a specific market. The business development strategies and tactics set out by the government within the Middle East countries often authorize businesses individuals in giving specific benefits to them but it is also one of the main factors of inefficiency some business sectors of a few specified Middle East countries and hinders their abilities in improving the revenue generation potential of the region and it also decreases the potential of growth in the region (Robinson, 1997). Certain key Islamic values such as accord, collaboration and brotherly associations play a crucial role in the trade dealings between USA and the Middle East which depicts that Islamic instructions and values do have a great influence on the Middle East. However, many countries in the Middle East have tried to incorporate a strategic planning which focuses on the functions of synergy and as a result they have invested heavily for the growth and development of trade and commerce. The influences of Oil reserves According to Vidal (2005), there is no denying the fact that one of the primary reasons in the trading relations between Middle East and USA has been the huge reserves of Oil and gas in the region. In this regard, petroleum politics has played its part and has played a very important role in the aspect of political diplomacy since the advent of petroleum products in the Middle East in the 20th century. The government of USA knows the importance of this scarce but extremely rich resource and has made some productive strategic calculations for its trading relations with the Middle East. That is the reason why it has invested heavily on the pumping, refining, transport and use of petroleum products over the past few years. Below is the analysis of some of the oil rich countries in the Middle East: Iraq According to Ross (2006), USA’s invasion of Iraq was due to the capturing of Saddam Husain and another factor was the possibility of Iraq holding weapons of Mass destruction. However, according to critics and experts on political economy, the core motive was oil reserves in Iraq. Iraq has the world's fifth-largest proven oil reserves which are 152 billion barrels (Arkin, 2007) Iraq's oil reserves have always been the central feature in the political relations of the region and that was certainly the core motive behind the 2003 invasion by the USA. Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an oil-based economy with very strong government controls across several major economic activities in the region (Khalaf, 2006). After Venezuela, KSA has the world's largest known oil reserves and also produces the largest amount of the Oil in the whole world. USA has recognized the importance of KSA and knows that it is the largest exporter of oil. KSA is an energy superpower because it has oil power in terms of having influence due to oil reserves on the global stage and due to this reason USA has to form a strong relation with the country. Other oil rich countries such as UAE and Kuwait do have huge oil reserves with them and have certainly been influential in their trade with USA. Religious Influence According to Schofield (1997), Middle East is a region where the effects of values, traditions, culture and most importantly religion can be clearly observed on the practices of trade and commerce as most countries in the USA work in accordance with the traditions and customs of Islam, unlike USA where business activities are operated by following completely contrasting practices. In most of the countries in the Middle East the executive powers are bestowed within a sole authority and the organizational system of Middle East does recognizes the importance of the individuals and keeps in view their influence to the country (Wheeler, 2002). Certain key Islamic values such as accord, collaboration and brotherly associations play a crucial role in the trade dealings between USA and the Middle East which depicts that Islamic instructions and values do have a great influence on the Middle East. However, many countries in the Middle East have tried to incorporate a strategic planning which focuses on the functions of synergy and as a result they have invested heavily for the growth and development of trade and commerce (Ramsey, 2003). U.S. Trade policy with Iraq According to Kramer (2006), USA’s 1991 war with is still believed to be the world’s most destructive war, as it almost completely destroyed the communications and transportations networks of IRAQ. Since then, the government of USA has forced IRAQ to avoid constructing any such weapon which may have the potential to cause massive demolition in the world. As US believed that this restriction on IRAQ would assist USA to collapse Saddam Hussein’s government. Nevertheless, USA’s strategy to impose such a restriction on IRAQ turned out to be an irony for the USA, as it helped Saddam Hussein to reinforce its government in IRAQ. As a result almost every month around 5000 deaths of Iraqi children die due to starvation and unavoidable diseases. And subsequently the USA government had to lift the restriction on IRAQ, due to global pressure to do so (Kohut, 2003) Furthermore, the US government briefed that US’s restriction on IRAQ is not contingent on compliance with United Nations directions which leaves IRAQ with nothing on hand, even if it complies with the united nation’s direction (D’Amato, 2006). In order for such restriction to be a successful one, the aggrieved party, that is Iraq, should have been offered with an inducement in return, to poise the whole situation. And due to the fact, that both, the United Nations and USA couldn’t appropriately deal with this situation, which compelled IRAQ to postpone its collaboration with UN arms superintendents in December 1998. The impact of terrorism According to James (1984), the terrorist assault on the world trade centre in the united states of America on 11th September 2001 has indicated that if appropriate preventive measures are not adopted by USA, then there can possibly be an another major terrorist attack from such middle east extremist on USA, and since that terrorist assault, the potential security breach have become a major cause of concern for the USA. As Osama bin laden has gone underground, after the 9th September 2001 terrorist attack, and AL-Qaida which hasn’t been receiving any sort of support from any government, whether financial or political, Washington DC have found these four countries, namely, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Libya, being involved, in funding al-Qaida, behind the closed doors. And due to the fact, the federal government of USA has decided to detach these four countries from the global community (Horowitz, 2004). The government of USA’s approach to deal with the terrorists through military actions had most of the times, resulted in unwanted outcome (Forman, 2006). This fact can be demonstrated from few such events, such as, in the year 1998, the US army, with the orders of the US government, destroyed a civilian pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, as they had this misconception that Sudan have been planning to manufacture some chemical weapons, which they would eventually use them in terrorist activities. This military action from the US government has resulted in an increase in hatred and anger against the USA government and it also further reinforced Sudan’s fundamentalist despotism. Besides that, in 1986, the US army caused a massive damage to a couple of cities of Libya, as the public of Libya were favoring the terrorist attacks against USA, and this military action of USA not only martyred the innocent civilians of Libya, but also turned out to be a failed military action of USA, as soon after the military operation on Libya, the Libyan agents blown a pan am airliner over Scotland in vengeance moreover, if the government of USA would not respond appropriately to the hatred and anger of these aggrieved civilians, then this will further worsen the security issues of USA, as this would not assist the US government by any means to deal appropriately with terrorism (Bennis, Phyllis, and Leaver, 2005) Although, there are barely some Muslims who are in favor of terrorism, but the aggressive mentality and approach of extremists like Osama bin laden, against the government of USA and its anti-Muslim states policies, has greatly influenced alike people, especially in the middle east region. And this would result in an increase in the number of such extremist s and their terrorist activities, until and unless USA considers, altering its anti-Muslim states policies (Beres, 2002). The role of the USA military It is evident that the U.S.A military always had a huge role to play in the Middle East throughout history. Along with the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan in 1979, the most significant intervention of the U.S. military had arrived with when the Iraqi invasion of oil-rich Kuwait had started in 1990, which had further led to the Gulf War. Though the invasion didn't directly threaten the USA but a vital political as well as economic interest in this war was “oil”. Along with that the principles of International law and global peace had to be strongly adhered to and protection and sovereignty of global political objectives were at stake and it was interlinked with the territorial integrity of nations (Kohut, 2003). After the Gulf War, the U.S.A had won the trust of the oil-rich states of Middle East and the Persian Gulf because they had eliminated the military threat of Iraq, which was led by the sadistic Iraq’s ruler Saddam Husain. These regimes had to deal with a huge level of internal criticism which had allowed U.S. troops to make their military fortress in Saudi Arabia. Since the discovery of massive petroleum reserves in Saudi Arabia, ensuring direct access to the lands of the Middle East has been a very important agenda on the foreign policy of USA. According to Fiscus (2004), the battle with the soviets in 1979, The Intervention of USA in Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait in 1990, War on terror with Iraq and Afghanistan are evidences of how the regional forces have driven the desire of U.S. for the direct access to fuel. It is a fact that the Middle East countries supply more than 40% of the oil which is consumed by people across the world. Ensuring prompt supply of oil reserves from USA plays a huge role in the development of U.S.A foreign policy within the Middle East (Lesch, 2003). Does the USA intent to create political stability or create civil unrest? Though many critics of political economy and public policy have stated that the interests of the U.S.A state department have been on certain proclamations that the interests of the regime of the USA lie in promoting creation of democratic governments across the globe, still the power politics of USA has at times supported certain highly aggressive regimes within the Middle East. For instance, even after the end of the Soviet War with Afghanistan, consistent aid in form of U.S. dollars and military assistance had continued to flow in Afghanistan and no specific reason were elaborated for this aid (Garhash, 1996). This aid was at time criticized by many nations across the world which included many Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. From 2010 to 2012, the government of U.S.A had supported military coups in Tunisia as well as Algeria, though it was evident that the Islamists in both the countries had appeared very close in winning a peaceful national election. In 2013, the USA had supported the transfer of power in Syria from the Hafez al-Assad to Bashar al-Assad despite the denial of the civilians of Syria. It is evident that after the Second World War the U.S.A has vivid interest in the political and economical activities of the Middle East. The government of U.S.A has made itself a key component in the diplomatic, economic, and military activities of the USA by constantly being involved in the national interests of the associated nations (Colgan, 2013). Conclusion From this discussion, four core issues have been recognized which have the potential to influence the economical and political relationship between the united states of America and Arab countries, and these core issues needs to be given a serious thought by the US government and in the light of these core issues, they should accordingly form the American middle east policy. Although, oil would remain the key factor for the US government, to formulate its tactics regarding the middle east region, but it is imperative for the US management to consider an another key factor here, which is the mounting economic and political influence of few middle east countries. These specific Middle East countries, in the light of their efficient and effective economic policies, are shrewdly boosting their revenue generation from oil exports, by merging their oil revenues, to accomplish their individual and collective economic goals and targets. Furthermore, they are receiving an active financial and economic assistance from many European and Asian nations, who are interested to expand their trade and commercial relations with these specific Middle East countries. Nevertheless, these countries would have to deal with an immense global competition in the years to come. The relations of USA with the Middle East and its ability to succeed in the Middle East market will depend on the diplomatic and military dimensions of the U.S.-Middle East policy and whether or not it can sustain in the long run. References Arkin, W. 2007. “The Difference Was in the Details”. The Washington Post. Bennis, P., & Leaver, E. 2005. The Iraq quagmire: The mounting costs of war and the case for bringing the troops home. Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy In Focus. Beres, L.R. 2002, July 25. 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