Requirements of Agricultural Product-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Agricultural products require protection in local markets and should not be subject to free trade regulations. Answer: Introduction In order to protect the agricultural products in the local market the government may need to use tariffs. It is quite evident that even now most of the farmers believe that it is their sole right to produce for the domestic market and certain products can only be permitted to import when the local farmers are unable to produce them or there is a shortfall [1]. It is quite natural that if the imported products are available in the local market at a cheaper rate people will certainly buy those products which will in turn adversely affect the local farmers. This essay will focus on the impact of disposing the trade barriers over domestic agriculture sector. At the same point of time it will also shed light on free trade regulations and the reasons for which agriculture should not be subject to this. Discussion Thesis Statement The thesis statement of the assignment is as follows, Protecting the agricultural products in the local market and restricting them from the free trade regulation is beneficial for the economy. This signifies the fact that many of the economists and researchers have argued that not protecting agriculture in the domestic market may cause harm to the economy as cheaper imported agricultural may substitute the domestic agricultural market. Arguments for and Against the Thesis Statement As pointed out previously that many theorists suggest that removing the trade barriers will adversely affect the local farmers. On the contrary, it has also been argued that food products generally travel from the land of many to the land of few, disrupting this flow with trade barriers will give rise to turbulence[2]. Hence the World Bank personnel put forward the view that global and regional trade of agricultural products should be encouraged for enhancing the food security and thereby meeting the needs of the growing affluent population. However, it can be stated that international trade may have both positive and negative impacts over the agricultural products. In order to resolve the issue the government should intervene and determine which are the key products that are need to be imported and which are not. Importing only the necessary products will ensure security of the local farmers. Moreover, the government can subsidise the local farmers or ensure them a minimum price of their products[3]. These are a few elementary process of protecting the agricultural products in the local market. Free trade is the policy adopted by the government of a country for eradicating discriminations against exports and imports. Buyers and sellers who belong to the different economies may trade voluntarily without any government intervention if free trade is enabled. There will be no tariffs, quotas or prohibitive policy on the part of the government[4]. However, researchers argue that free trade does not benefit the farmers and the poor. Leaving the farmers at the mercy of the free market operations will worsen their situation more. Whenever free trade will be on place the farmers will focus on producing the crops which can be exported and will try to increase the yield. This in turn makes the farmers dependent over the chemical inputs. Numerous farmers have already stopped rotating their crops, instead of devoting the entire land to different crops they producing a single crop which is developing a monoculture that requires even more chemicals. This process in turn has destroyed the biodiversity of the ecosystem[5]. The gigantic industrial farms need costly machineries for harvesting and planting and that in turn makes agriculture a capital intensive process. As cost increases a fall in the prices and market flushes with surplus. Due to the sudden fall in price level the farmers need subsidies which are only available to the large farmers and agribusinesses[6]. As a result borrowings and land values increase. The entire process encourages borrowing, rich owners of land gets richer while the young farmers lose their affordability to start. Eventually a bubble agricultural economy is created which inevitably bursts while subsidies fail to keep in pace with the falling prices. Henceforth, it can be stated that free trade in turn harms the agricultural sector. There are instances that free trade has benefitted agriculture sector. For instance there was a pre-existing agreement between US and Canada, the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the export of the agricultural products in Canada had not been hampered. On the contrary, the exports to Canada increased to $19 billion in 2011 from $4.2 billion in 1990 which in turn made Canada the number one export market for United States[7]. Canada contributes to 14% of the total exports of the United States. As per the data in the year 2010, the product categories which were on top of the list of exports were fresh fruits, processed food, red meat and processed vegetables. Conclusion Hence on a concluding note it can be stated that in the context of free trade the result may be twofold. Hence before exposing the agriculture sector to the free trade regulations it is necessary to review and forecast the expected outcomes. Reference List Anderson, James E., and Yoto V. Yotov. "Terms of trade and global efficiency effects of free trade agreements, 19902002."Journal of International Economics 99 (2016): 279-298. Baldwin, Richard. "The World Trade Organization and the future of multilateralism."Journal of Economic Perspectives30.1 (2016): 95-116. Fiamohe, Rose, et al. "Impact of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff on the Rice Sector in West Africa."International Conference of Agricultural Economics (ICAE), 2015. Orford, Anne. "Food security, free trade, and the battle for the state."J. Int'l L Int'l Rel.11 (2015): 1. Tellioglu, Isin, and Panos Konandreas. "Agricultural Policies, Trade and Sustainable Development in Egypt." 2017. Zahniser, Steven, et al.NAFTA at 20: North America's Free Trade Area and Its Impact on Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 2015. Tellioglu, Isin, and Panos Konandreas. "Agricultural Policies, Trade and Sustainable Development in Egypt." 2017. Fiamohe, Rose, et al. "Impact of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff on the Rice Sector in West Africa."International Conference of Agricultural Economics (ICAE), 2015. Fiamohe, Rose, et al. "Impact of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff on the Rice Sector in West Africa."International Conference of Agricultural Economics (ICAE), 2015 Anderson, James E., and Yoto V. Yotov. "Terms of trade and global efficiency effects of free trade agreements, 19902002."Journal of International Economics99 (2016): 279-298 Baldwin, Richard. "The World Trade Organization and the future of multilateralism."Journal of Economic Perspectives30.1 (2016): 95-116. Orford, Anne. "Food security, free trade, and the battle for the state."J. Int'l L Int'l Rel.11 (2015): 1. Orford, Anne. "Food security, free trade, and the battle for the state."J. Int'l L Int'l Rel.11 (2015): 1.