Specifically, if the environmental duty is set to ensure that the world price remains constant as the foreign country adjusts its environmental tax, it eliminates the terms-of-trade incentives of the foreign country to distort its
environmental standards. Thus, an environmental duty results in the foreign country setting the efficient standard.
environmentalists opposed NAFTA on the grounds that the free trade agreement would provoke a "race to the bottom" in North American
environmental standards. But so far the degradation of
environmental standards has not occurred.
There's widespread acceptance of the need for "global labor standards" and "global
environmental standards." But apart from agreeing that no nation should permit forced labor, slave labor, employment of six-year-old children in factories seven days a week, and ocean dumping of nuclear wastes, there's almost no agreement on what labor and
environmental standards actually mean.
But conservation groups said the study's focus on timber harvest ignores larger questions of
environmental standards and geographical pressures.
A "race to the bottom" in
environmental standards, as OECD countries struggle to keep MNC investment at home.
Worse still, these multinational corporations would receive extensive protection of their corporate assets but wouldn't be required to observe even minimal labor and
environmental standards.
The survey, conducted at 7,248 sites nationwide from a environmental standpoint and at 5,549 points from a health standpoint, found only 74.9% of sites attained the required
environmental standards, down by more than 6 percentage points from last year.
The new Republican majority in Congress is far more concerned about the short-term costs of regulation to business, and has served notice that it will prevent enforcement of
environmental standards that hurt profitability.
Written before environmental destruction became a public concern, the Mining Law contains no
environmental standards. Existing Federal standards leave gaping holes through which mine operators adroitly jump, occasionally leading to incidents of massive water and soil contamination.
Investment at this plant also was ustaticd to upgrade equipment in anticipation of pending safety and
environmental standards. Further expansions are being planned for Sistersville and the company's Termoli, Italy plant.
And, by the way,
environmental standards should improve under NAFTA.
Strict
environmental standards in Europe and Japan have led to innovarive, competitive companies, less pollution and more efficient use of resources.