Professor Dr. Zdzislaw W. Puslecki

The Growing Interdependence between International Business and National Economies

The international trade policy in the end of the first decade of the XXI century have been strongly affected by the force of the economic c risis. The c hanges are evident i n the growing importance of international trade to national economies and to domestic groups within those economies, in the closer linkages between trade and other international issues. Realistic point is important trends in the global trade regime during the economic crisis. The growing interdependence have led to increased competitiveness and greater temptations to resort to strategic trade policy. In the situation of economic crisis different positions of the member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) especially developed and developing countries and also USA, the European Union and Japan representatives were observed during the Doha Round of t rade negotiations under t he W TO. T he p roblems o f agriculture protection in the developed countries for example in European Union and USA and also in the developing countries, were becoming a serious obstacle during the negotiations. The decisions taken by the representatives of the governments participating in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are, to a significant degree, influenced by various lobbies, such as organisations and unions of food producers or other non-governmental organisations, including trade unions. T he p roblems o f m utual r elations b etween t he representatives of governments and those non-governmental organisations which influence on multilateral trade negotiations conducted o n the f orum o f W TO a re a lso t he subject of the analysis in the undertaken research program. Despite the undeniable benefits of the multilateral WTO forum for trade liberalization, the rapid increase of North-South bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Areas (FTAs) begs a systematic explanation for why some forums are prioritized relative t o o thers.