The rethinking of SOE in global economic friction and the unveiling of a new paradigm in trade and investment agreements

• Autor(a) principal: Aquino, Theófilo Miguel de
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional do FGV (FGV Repositório Digital)
• Texto Completo: https://hdl.handle.net/10438/35192
• topic: State-owned enterprises; Trade and investment agreements; Empresa estatal; Acordos de comércio e investimento; China; Direito; Relações econômicas internacionais; China - Relações exteriores; Empresas públicas - Relações econômicas exteriores

My research provides a comprehensive analysis of how the influence of China's economic emergence has reshaped the definition of SOEs in regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements. This inquiry unfolds through a meticulous examination of how the legal concept of SOE in regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements involving the USA, the EU, and Japan undergo adaptation and reform in response to China's impact, resonating with their repercussions on third countries. I argue that China has instigated a paradigm shift in the global regulatory landscape on SOEs, compelling the USA, the EU, and Japan to embrace a novel regulatory pattern. Their response takes the form of structural revisions to the legal definition of SOEs embedded within regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements. My key contribution is to indicate how their response takes the form of structural revisions to the legal definition of SOEs embedded within regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements. I point out a progressive convergence between the USA, the EU and Japan towards the use of the legal framework of ownership and control to legally define SOEs in regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements. The convergence has caused the spread of the ownership and control framework as a new international regulatory pattern to the definition of SOE. The USA, the EU and Japan have been employing the framework in agreements with a range of economies from both the Global North and South. Despite China's economic clout driving the current international push for SOE regulation, the emerging framework fails to account for the diverse contexts and objectives of developing nations. This raises serious concerns about the potential inequities and inefficiencies of applying a China-centric framework to the Global South. A second important contribution of my research is thus to highlight that the spread of the ownership and control framework has the potential to curb legitimate development policies in the Global South. I assert that economic development tools utilized by SOEs are increasingly encountering legal obstacles stemming from international rules aimed at restraining state intervention and direction within domestic settings. Such implications come at a time of reevaluation the State’s role in domestic economies. The framework of ownership and control has been introduced as a legal tool designed to make the regulation upon SOEs more rigid and restrict. However, more recent domestic policies by the USA, the EU and Japan point to increased State intervention in the economy. I thus assert that China's influence extends beyond its active policies and practices. The USA, the EU, and Japan are reshaping the overall framework governing the legal concept SOEs in response to China. Regulatory clauses devised to address China's challenges have been implemented in diverse contexts, impacting countries with much diverse domestic institutions.