Global Trade and Globalization Flashcards
Grade 12 · Social Studies · Flashcards
Key concepts for understanding global trade, economic integration, and the debates over globalization in the 12th grade.
Flashcards
- Comparative Advantage
- The principle that countries benefit from specializing in goods they produce at the lowest opportunity cost and trading for the rest.
- Tariff
- A tax on imported goods that raises their price; used to protect domestic industries but raises consumer prices.
- Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
- A treaty reducing or eliminating tariffs and trade barriers between participating countries; examples: USMCA, EU single market.
- WTO
- World Trade Organization (est. 1995); governs global trade rules and adjudicates trade disputes between member nations.
- Protectionism
- Government policies shielding domestic industries from foreign competition through tariffs, quotas, and subsidies.
- Trade Deficit
- When a country imports more than it exports; the U.S. has run persistent trade deficits for decades.
- Trade Surplus
- When a country exports more than it imports; Germany, China, and Japan consistently run large surpluses.
- Outsourcing / Offshoring
- Moving production or services to another country with lower labor costs; major driver of manufacturing job shifts.
- Race to the Bottom
- Competition among nations to attract investment by lowering taxes, weakening labor laws, and reducing environmental standards.
- Friend-shoring
- Moving supply chains to politically allied nations to reduce dependence on rivals; accelerated after COVID-19 and U.S.-China competition.
- IMF
- International Monetary Fund; provides loans to countries in financial crisis, typically requiring economic policy reforms.
- Just-in-Time Supply Chain
- Manufacturing model minimizing inventory by having parts arrive exactly when needed; efficient but fragile under disruption.
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