Conférence Commerce International 🌍

L’IUT Nancy-Brabois a le plaisir d’accueillir le Professeur Thore TOEWS, enseignant-chercheur en économie appliquée à la Technische Hochschule Bingen (Allemagne).

À cette occasion, il proposera une conférence publique en anglais, ouverte à tous les étudiants et personnels de l’IUT :

• 🗓 Mercredi 17 septembre 2025
• 🕔 17h15 – 18h15
• 📍 Amphi 3, IUT Nancy-Brabois
• 👉 Conférence en anglais, ouverte à tous sur inscription

🌍 Thème de la conférence : « What theoretical arguments convince most economists, but not many others these days, that trade is beneficial for all countries? »

Dans un monde confronté à des défis majeurs – inégalités croissantes, dérèglement climatique, tensions sociales –, le commerce international est souvent montré du doigt. Mais est-il vraiment à l’origine de ces problèmes ? Ou au contraire, peut-il être un levier pour les résoudre ?

Avec clarté et conviction, Thore TOEWS nous invitera à repenser les fondements économiques du commerce mondial : spécialisation, avantages comparatifs, coopération internationale, efficacité des ressources… Autant de notions économiques clés pour comprendre les enjeux contemporains (libre-échange, droits de douane, accords comme Mercosur-UE, marchés carbone…).

Une conférence stimulante intellectuellement, idéale aussi pour pratiquer son anglais et développer sa compétence internationale, essentielle pour les étudiants et enseignants de toutes disciplines.

Je m’inscris

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What theoretical arguments convince most economists, but not many others these days, that trade is beneficial for all countries ?

A growing world population, rising average incomes, and per capita resource consumption clearly present humanity with unresolved sustainability problems, exceeding the physical and ecological sustainability limits of the Earth. The global economic system is neither sustainable nor fair. Inequality has been increasing for decades.

Parallel to the growth of the world population, consumption, and environmental problems, trade has increased. From this simultaneous development, one might assume that trade is part of the problem. But is trade really a cause of environmental and inequality problems? Will rejecting trade, reintroducing tariffs, or rejecting free trade zones provide a solution to the major challenges?

The driving force behind international trade is comparable to specialization within a country’s economy: specialized companies offer services or products that consumers prefer because of better prices and quality. People go to a plumber when they need a new bathroom or to a dentist when their teeth need treatment. They are happy that both providers are specialized in their professions. No one would see any advantage in the plumber having to use his tools for dental repairs as well. When it comes to trade, however, some argue that specialization and international exchange reduce the prosperity of some of the countries involved.

When countries produce goods in which they have a lot of experience, knowledge, or production factors, economists would say that they have a comparative advantage and are exploiting it. But what if other countries do not have comparative cost advantages? The answer is that every country has these relative strengths. Even if a country is poor and wages are low, trade still offers opportunities for that country. Namely, the production of labour-intensive goods that do not require much capital. The clothing industry is a good example of this. When industrialized countries exploited their advantage in the production of high-tech goods, wages became too high to produce clothing at affordable prices in their own countries. In developing countries, however, this was possible. In rich countries, clothing can be sold at a significantly higher price than in low-wage countries. The option of exporting clothing there is therefore lucrative and thus advantageous for developing countries.

However, since wages in Bangladesh, for example, are still much lower than in France or Germany, one could argue that trade has not contributed to poverty reduction. This is not the case, however. Trade increases prosperity in all countries involved. Nevertheless, it does not eliminate inequality, but only reduces it.

In many cases, international specialization also increases resource efficiency. And trade and international cooperation are necessary to solve global problems such as climate change. Trade is not a panacea. But if trade is misunderstood and rejected as the cause of the world’s problems, then humanity will be deprived of a very effective and important tool.