Unit 3 journal question
Yes, governments should consider human rights when granting preferential trading rights to countries. This strategy should be implemented in terms of lowering tariffs or removing bottlenecks. Since the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights in 1948, many countries have aligned their laws and policies to recognize the essence of human rights protection. These laws and policies extend to how these countries interact with other foreign countries in all matters including trade. By the virtue of granting preferential trading rights to countries, governments will influence such countries to reconsider their human rights practices and force them to formulate laws and policies that foster respect for human rights and good governance (Hill Jr, 2010). This has been witnessed hugely in the Caribbean pacific states, African and Arab countries where human rights and democratic values were repressed.
Although enforcing human rights activism through the use of trade barriers is not a very effective method. It has received significant praise to its ability to influence how a country treats its citizens without interfering with internal affairs. The argument against this is according to Hafner-Burton (2011), is that presently, even the most developed nations such as the U.S still face human rights violation issues. This, therefore, proves that one country imposing trade barriers on grounds of intent to influence human rights in that particular country becomes invalid. In addition, governments might suffer from limited trade with major exporting partners that poor human rights policies. Countries such as the middle east are major exporting partners. However, they have poor human rights policies which mean imposing trade barriers may negatively affect a country economic performance in the long run.
References
Hill Jr, D. W. (2010). Estimating the effects of human rights treaties on state behavior. The Journal of Politics, 72(4), 1161-1174.
Hafner-Burton, E. M. (2011). Forced to be good: Why trade agreements boost human rights. Cornell University Press.