World Trade Organization multilateralism is driven by manufacturers. However, in China, Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import has spurred a new, consumer-oriented trade unilateralism. Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import prospers within China's National Cross-Border E-commerce Pilot Cities, which are special economic zones aimed at using unilateral trade liberalization to meet consumers' growing demands for high-quality foreign products. Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import enhances consumer benefits beyond reducing customer formalities and tax rates and lowering product prices. It re-conceptualizes consumer protection by treating consumers as diverse individuals rather than as a homothetic group. It also empowers consumers by making them 'importers' to minimize behind-the-border trade barriers. Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import warrants a rethinking of World Trade Organization multilateralism from its initial focus on corporations and capital owners to a revised focus on consumers.
CITATION STYLE
Huang, J. (Jeanne). (2021). The Latest Generation of SEZs: Consumer-Oriented Unilateralism in China’s E-Commerce Trade. Journal of International Economic Law, 24(2), 299–320. https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgab018
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