Author(s)

Ni Xing, Zhuoqing Zhang

Corresponding Author

Ni Xing

Abstract

In recent years, a new trend has emerged in world trade. Some developed countries have introduced a new trade protectionism by setting environmental quality standards higher than those of developing countries. That is, they adopt high standards of access as a means of restricting imports so that the traditional trade barriers gradually evolved into environmental barriers and became green trade barriers. With the increasingly stringent environmental protection standards in various countries, environmental barrier trade has increasingly become a form of new trade protectionism in international trade. Some traditional products manufactured, according to the old mode of production, have been restricted or even banned in international trade, which has affected the export trade in developing countries to a certain extent. Since the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round negotiations in 1994 and the establishment of the WTO in 1995, the tariff barriers in international trade have been largely canceled and the traditional space for non-tariff barriers has been shrinking. However, as the global financial turmoil intensified, the world economic growth slowed down. The fierce competition in export trade and the intensification of the global trade imbalance caused the renovation of some countries and implemented "green" trade protectionism on the ground of environmental protection. In recent years, trade disputes caused by environmental barriers have become a major feature of international trade. For China, which joins the WTO, this trade barrier in the form of a legal outer garment has, and will continue to have a significant negative impact on the development of China's export enterprises and even the implementation of China's accession strategy. No matter from what point of view, "environmental barriers" will be the most difficult but must cross the threshold of China's foreign economic and trade activities. Therefore, it is necessary to have a full and objective understanding of green trade barriers, carefully study its basic content and characteristics, thoroughly grasp the law of its formation and development, and put forward feasible operational countermeasures in a timely manner [1].

Keywords

Environmental Barriers, International Trade, Green Trade Barriers.