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Trade and Human Rights Linkage Fails a Test

ALONG MY WAY

S B Chaudhuri
ITS all rather confusing.
The leading industrialised nations in the West keep telling the emerging economic power-houses in East Asia that they must improve their human rights record. The assumption is that human rights are being neglected in the newly industrialising countries in the region. The West apparently means well. There are talks of universal human rights standards. The West wants the world to be better place for all to live in.
The emerging economies deeply resent the idea that they are callous about human rights. They argue that the West's notions of human rights lack a global perspective. The socio-economic conditions and the needs of a particular society have to be taken into account tn judging its human rights standards, they insist. East Asia has its own heritage. Countries in the region have their own concepts of morality. human behaviour, personal freedom and social obligations which suit their conditions best. These may not conform exactly to West's ideas on human rights. However, variations arise because socio-economic conditions in the West differ from those prevailing in East Asia. Countries of East Asia declare that they are no less committed than the West to uphold human dignity. At the same time, the diversity in human behaviour and societies' needs cannot be ignored. The progress in human rights has to be tuned to the structure of the society in a particular country and the stage of its economic development.
Unconvinced, the West says that human rights are universal in application and must answer to certain minimum standards evrywhere. The West also applies pressure — not only on the emerging economies in East Asia but other developing
nations as well — in international forum and bilateral dealings, to Improve their human rights records. These moves only serve to increase the apprehension of the developing countries that the West means to foist its own notions of human behaviour on them. Conditions prevailing In the society in a developing country may not be perfect. Nonetheless. even such a country would greet with indignation any effort on the part of the richer nations to Impose the norms formulated on the basis of their own traditions.
The rich nations try trade leverage. They say that granting trade privileges to the developing countries would be conditional on their raising the wage levels and improving working conditions in mills and factories. The move confirms the lurking fear that the West was merely indulging in moral posturing. The alm was really self-serving. What the rich countries wanted was to protect their own output and jobs by taking away the poorer trading nations' eomparative advantage in export of low-cost goods. Wages in the developing countries are relatively low. They can thus produce goods at lesser cost than the advanced economies. If they raise their wages anywhere near the West's level, the cost of the output would go up tremendously. making the exports much less competitive. They would thus lose the market for their produces in the rich countries.
Some of the human rights activists admit as much, in moments of candour. Cheap goods from the emerging economies are flooding their markets, they say. Domestic producers find it difficult to sell their goods in competition. Out put shrinks and jobs disappear. Manufacturers are relocating their production fa-
cillties to lands where labour is cheap. They produce the same quality goods as the domestic manufacturers, but at lower costs abroad. The goods then find way home, driving more of the surviving domestic manufacturers out. More Jobs are lost. Al of it amount to unfair competition, these activists argue. Trade should not only be free but also fair and the solution lies in introducing higher level of wages and better working conditions for labour in the introducing higher level of wages and better working conditions for labour in the ■emerging economies, they add.
These arguments do not impress the poorer nations. Wage levels are conditioned by national incomes and the stage of development of the economy. Raising Just the wage levels arbitrarily at the behest of the West or improving the working conditions' of labour, leaving the rest of the population in the same squalor as before. would bring serious distortions in the economy and the society, blocking the growth path, the developing nations assert. They read in the arguments of the human rights activists another ruse for introducing new forms of trade protectionism by the West. The rich nations link trade to labour in the guise of human rights Just to keep the goods produced in the poorer countries out. they aver.
Thus It was that each move in the ongoing sparring between Washington and Beijing over the renewal of China's trade privileges by the United States, came to be watched by
analysts and human rights activists with lively Interest. In this instance, the fact that China is not a member of GATT (General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade) has added a (wist In the ithbroglio over human rights. GATT rules oblige its member countries to apply their lowest tariff rates in trade with each other. Each member country thus treats its trading partner as the most favoured nation. China was a founding member of GATT. However, it left the organisation In 1949. China, therefore, cannot, lay claim on mostfavoured-nation status in Its
trade with the United States as a matter of the latter's obligation under GATT rules.
China's eligibility for mostfavoured-nation (MFN) treatment in trade with the USA had thus come to be negotiated every year. Improvement in human rights performance had been stipulated by Washington while granting MFN status to Beijing, which allowed the goods exported by China to enter the America market on payment of duties at the lowest applicable US rates as in the case of GATT member countries. US stipulations on human rights became more specific when China's MFN status was renewed last year. Seven human-rights categories were listed as calling for improved performance. It was also give out that future renewal of MFN status would be conditional on China's mak'ng "overall significant progress" in human rights. China's current MFN status with the USA expires On June 3. For a. con-
sideration of the renewal of this trade privilege, an overall determination of China's human rights performance had to be made right away Hence the excitement.
Stoppage of export of goods made by prison labour and easing emigration restrictions come on top of the seven criteria for measuring China's progress on human rights. Other areas under scrutiny Include free foreign radio and television broadcasts, release and accounting of political prisoners, allowing prisoners to be visited by the Red Cross, better deal for the Tibetans and adherence to universal human rights standards. However, few if any, thought that the decision on renewal of China's trade status would be guided by human rights considerations alone. China's exports to the United States came to some $30 billion last year. Denial of MFN tariff privilege would erode competitiveness of Chinese products and hurt exports.
But a rupture in trade relations, leading to retaliation "by China, would hurt the USA too. American exports to China last year came to $8.8 billion. All the same. China is one of the fasfbst growing market for US products. US companies have invested more than $9 billion in China. In the event, the United States renewed China’s MFN status, delinking trade from human rights. It would, thus seem that trade and human rights linkage has failed a major test this time.
Meanwhile, labour ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a biennial gathering held in Singapore earlier this month, strongly criticised developed countries that try to impose their systems of labour relations and standards on developing nations. Ministers from Brunei, Indonesia. Malaysia.
the Philippines. Singapore and Thailand Issued a communique affirming their commitment to improving their workers' wellbeing. However, use of rigid labour standards stifles trade and economic development they said, undermining competitiveness of developing countries. The ministers also urged the International Labour Organization (ILO) to take into account the special circum-stances in the labour markets of the developing countries.
OUR manufacturing sector does not pose a threat to the industrialised countries. In that sense, we do not belong to the same league as East Asia. Nonetheless. human-rights activism is influencing our labour market also. One such Issue is the employment of child labour In factories, particularly in garment industry. A US television network is said to have even aired a documentary showing children at work in garment factory in Bangladesh.
We do have a law against employing underage workers in factories. However, child workers also happen to be the main source of support for many families. Experts also maintain that even the ILO conventions permit employment of children above 12. if socio-economic conditions of a country Justify it. Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BG-MEA) is reported to have drawn up plans to provide health care and schooling for workers and children. The ILO conventions also allow employment of underage workers only if they are provided with schooling parallely. May be. human rights activists from abroad would Join BGMEA's efforts In this regard. That way they would be really contributing towards engineering social changes in a poor country.