INTRODUCTION
Commerce refers to exchanging goods and services between businesses, whereas trade is the exchange of goods and services. International trade opens up a nation’s markets and goods that are not available domestically by exporting and importing commodities and services over borders. Expansion of markets invites competition, which reduces prices, hence offering goods and products to consumers at affordable rates. International trade has significantly affected the dynamics of supply and demand, oligopolistic tendencies, determination of global economic events, and the increase in competitiveness of the world economy.[1]
Globalisation has had a significant impact on international trade. There are three economic manifestations of this phenomenon: international trade, international investment, and international finance, which also constitute its cutting edge. But much more constitutes globalisation and global trade. It is about expanding economic transactions and organising economic activities across the political borders of nation-states. More precisely, it can be defined as a process associated with increasing economic openness, growing economic interdependence, and deepening economic integration in the world economy.[2]
Globalisation has dramatically altered the course over the last five decades, bringing together the world into an increasingly integrated and interdependent marketplace. Regardless of their political philosophies, through the 1990s, many nations reduced state-directed economic activity in Favor of a growing and increasingly dominant private sector. With these changes arose new international actors such as multinational corporations, the WTO, regional economic blocs, and new market sectors such as finance and services. Policy coordination bodies such as the G-77, G-10, G-22, and OECD also fostered a set of norms and policy principles based on liberalism, democracy, human rights, environmental sustainability, and multilateral agreements, among others.[3]
In this area, the Indian legal system has been quite intricate and involves different laws, treaties, agreements, and case laws. The practices and policies of India that relate to international trade and commerce have, with adequate passage of time, evolved and matured only to facilitate economic development, promote fair competition, and ensure smoother cross-border transactions.[4] The paper discusses recent trends; however, it importantly prioritises economic nationalism, global trade laws in the context of deglobalisation, India’s trade in a deglobalising world, and lastly, prospects and strategic advances.
[1]‘Legal Framework for International Trade and Commerce in India’ https://thelegalquorum.com/legal-framework-for-international-trade-and-commerce-in-india accessed 16 September 2024.
[2]Deepak Ayyar, Book Trade and Globalization (Oxford University Press 2008).
[3]Daniel S. K. Liu, Trade and Investment: A Comparative Perspective (MPRA Paper No 16104, 2009) https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/16104/1/MPRA_paper_16104.pdf accessed 16 September 2024.
[4]‘Legal Framework for International Trade and Commerce in India’ https://thelegalquorum.com/legal-framework-for-international-trade-and-commerce-in-india/ accessed 16 September 2024.