International Trade and Labor Practices Essay Example

Introduction

International trade, which involves the exchange of goods and services across country borders and territories, is an important part of the world today and it contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in all countries in the world. Labor standards refer to the globally accepted working conditions for employees. It includes good wages and salaries, good working conditions, working benefits and hiring people of the right age among others. In cocoa farming in West Africa, mostly in Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana, child labor and forced labor are used in the production of cocoa and this has attracted the attention of many international leaders since the research done in 2002 revealed it. The international trade in cocoa is mainly in the developed countries where cocoa is consumed most. Cocoa is largely consumed in the United States and Europe, and this means there is an international trade between these countries and the cocoa-producing countries. International trade can be used to impose labor regulations on the producing countries.

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Labor standards in the international trade partners should be a concern of the partners and the World Trade Organizations should enforce labor regulations in the producing countries. International labor rights, labor standards, and international trade are related and should be regulated through trade deals and agreements (Yu & Zia-ud-Din, 2018). One challenge with the intervention of international trade organizations is the economic differences among countries. For example, the standards set by the developed countries may not be effective and achievable in the cocoa-producing developing countries in West Africa. However, the labor standards in another country should be a concern in international trade because there should be a level playing field for all countries and all human rights should be upheld. The international trade partners should ensure that their trade and interests in the products do not lead to unfair treatment of the laborers in the producing countries. The WTO regulations should be imposed to ensure that all members meet certain labor standards like the elimination of discrimination, child labor, and forced labor. Therefore, the use of international trade restrictions to ensure labor standards should be applied to a certain extent to avoid crippling the economic performance of the trade partners.

Options Available

As stated above, the international trade organizations can use their relations with the producing countries to impose better labor practices through sanctions and other trade restrictions. The International Labor Organization provides guidelines across the world on the labor standards required (Fichter, Helfen, & Sydow, 2015). There are several options available for the international trade partners to impose the labor standards and the first one is poverty reduction. As stated in the case study, some children get engaged in cocoa farming labor due to poverty in their families and lack of better chances. Some are sold to the cocoa-producing farm by their parents with the hope of getting income from them. If there are effective poverty reduction efforts in the producing countries, there is an increased social security and this leads to reduced poverty (Fiszbein, Kanbur, & Yemtsov, 2014). The other option is increased access to education. In West Africa, most of the children in the farming industry remain there because they do not have education and this limits their opportunities beyond the labor in cocoa farms. Only 34% of the children in these farms get an education. Therefore, if there is improved access to education, the rate of forced and child labor would reduce.

The third option would be diplomatic engagements between the international trade organizations and the countries that have poor labor practices. For instance, the United States government, WTO and ILO can engage Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire in talks to reduce the unfair labor practices and pursue regulations on the governments to take actions. Such options can be made more effective through sanctions and reduced foreign aid for the governments that fail to comply. The implications of these options are improved labor standards in these cocoa-producing countries and reduced availability of children to be used in the farms.

Views of International Trade Theorists

The views of the international trade theorists would be diversified depending on their political views and associations. For those who are aligned to the left, they may feel that the sanctions and efforts are great but the results are not as great as they would have wished. They may suggest better ways to deal with the challenge. For those aligned to the right, their view may be that it is not right to impose sanctions and regulations via international trade because the impacts would be negative on the trade partners. They may propose that there should be a free trade and no interventions should be done whatsoever. For the moderates, they would feel there is a need to take action but to a certain limit. They would not swing to either of the sides. Their views would be that the political leaders do not choose the directions taken by society and that there is a need to set it free to set its operations and standards.

References

Fichter, M., Helfen, M., & Sydow, J. (2015). Ensuring core labor standards through International Framework Agreements. LERA For Libraries, 15(1-2).

Fiszbein, A., Kanbur, R., & Yemtsov, R. (2014). Social protection and poverty reduction: global patterns and some targets. World Development, 61, 167-177.

Yu, S., & Zia-ud-Din, M. (2018). International Trade Agreements and Their Relation to Core Labor Standards. J. Pol. & L., 11, 33.