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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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88 China theEUandLatinAmerica:CurrentIssuesandFutureCooperation kindinvolving MERCOSURinaNorthSouthcontext mightpartlyexplaina certain dominoeffect Baldwin1993 .Inthissense thedesiretosigntrade agreementsarisesfromtheinternalpoliticalbalancewithineachcountryortrade bloc wherethebalancebetweenforcesfavouringoragainsttheagreementmight determineadecisiontoseekprogressinregionalliberalisation.Tradeagreements signedbythirdcountriesmayleadtoasituationinwhichthedamageperceived byproagreementexportersisstrongenoughtoalterthebalanceofforces as theyperceiveacommercialdisadvantageinagrowingnumberof markets withoutobviatingthegeopoliticalincentivesinthedevelopmentofinternational policy especiallyinlargecountries.OntheMERCOSURside thesigningof theFrameworkAgreementbetweentheEUandtheAndeanCommunitycreated ariskoftradedeviationwithregardtosomeMERCOSURgoods. Ontheotherhand takingintoaccountMERCOSURsstructureandprotection levels thehemisphericfreetradeagreementgeneratedtheriskoftradedeviationto goodswithregardtowhichtheUnitedStateshadaregional althoughnotaglobal comparativeadvantage.Thus anFTA withtheEU may tosomeextent promotea positiveeffectoftradecreationandreducethenegativeeffectsofthetransferenceof protectiontogoodsfromtheNorthAmericaneconomies. Besidestheseeconomicarguments andasBouzas 2004 mentions the agreementwiththe EU meantthatthe MERCOSUR would haveexplicit CustomsUnionrecognitionasakeyplayerintheinternationaltradesystem. Secondly theMERCOSURcountriesfelttheysharemorevalueswiththesense of Community with which Europe has promoteditseconomicand social integrationthanwithamorecommerciallyorientedarrangement liketheone promotedbytheNorthAmericanFreeTradeAgreement NAFTA andFTAA. Regardlessoftheimportanceoftheseandotherincentives theyshowed thatimportantproblemsandtensionstypicalofanagreementbetweentwo regionalblocsexistedandthatthey would haveemergedassoonasthe negotiationswereinitiated. 3.2 SensitiveIssuesandtheSituationofthePotential Losers Inordertochecktheresultsforecastbyneoclassicalinternationaltrade theoryitisnecessaryalsotoverifythemarketequilibriumhypotheses.Models basedonneoclassicaltheoryassumethatmarketsworkefficiently whichmeans thatnoinformationasymmetriesexistbetweeneconomicagents andthatprices andreturnsfromproductionfactorsmustbeflexibleenoughtoadjustsupplyto demand while marketsofgoods productionfactorsandfinance mustbe complete and adjustinstantly. However these conditions arefarfrom