Ethical Barriers

International trade is the exchange of goods and services across national borders. In most
countries, it represents a significant part of gross domestic product (GDP). The rise of
industrialization, globalization, and technological innovation has increased the importance
of international trade, as well as its economic, social, and political effects on the countries
involved. Internationally recognized ethical practices such as the UN Global Compact have
been instituted to facilitate mutual cooperation and benefit between governments,
businesses, and public institutions. Nevertheless, countries continue to face challenges
around ethical trading and business practices, especially regarding economic inequalities
and human rights violations.

Arguments Against International Trade

Capital markets involve the raising and investing money in various enterprises. Although
some argue that the increasing integration of these financial markets between countries
leads to more consistent and seamless trading practices, others point out that capital flows
tend to favor the capital owners more than any other group. Likewise, owners and workers
in specific sectors in capital-exporting countries bear much of the burden of adjusting to
increased movement of capital. The economic strains and eventual hardships that result
from these conditions lead to political divisions about whether or not to encourage or
increase integration of international trade markets. Moreover, critics argue that income
disparities between the rich and poor are exacerbated, and industrialized nations grow in
power at the expense of under-capitalized countries.

Anti-Globalization Movements

The anti-globalization movement is a worldwide activist movement that is critical of the

globalization of capitalism. Anti-globalization activists are particularly critical of the
undemocratic nature of capitalist globalization and the promotion of neoliberalism by
international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank. Other common targets of anti- corporate and anti-globalization movements include
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the WTO, and free
trade treaties like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA), the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), and the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Meetings of such bodies are often met with strong
protests, as demonstrators attempt to bring attention to the often devastating effects of
global capital on local conditions.

On November 30, 1999, close to fifty thousand people gathered to protest the WTO
meetings in Seattle, Washington. Labor, economic, and environmental activists succeeded
in disrupting and closing the meetings due to their disapproval of corporate globalization.
This event came to symbolize the increased debate and growing conflict around the ethical
questions on international trade, globalization and capitalization.