International Trade and Transportation Infrastructure Development

Experiences in North America and Europe

Juan Carlos Villa, Maria Boile, Sotirios Theofanis

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780128157411
• eBook ISBN: 9780128162569
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Operations
• Index: Business

International Trade and Transportation Infrastructure Development: Experiences in North America and Europe examines the impact of trade agreements, such as the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union Customs Union, and their relationship to transportation systems and infrastructure in member countries. It analyzes historical trade by mode, evaluating modal shifts due to trade policy and disputes, and their implications for all involved nations. This book also examines both supply and demand trends, reviewing transportation processes, and the stakeholders involved. Capacity development, funding mechanisms, and operational characteristics of each mode are detailed in relation to the policies that influence them. The book reviews recent trends and the impact of disruptive technologies, as well as future potential regulatory changes, with relation to upcoming infrastructure plans, project funding, and operations.This book is an ideal reference for transportation practitioners involved in planning, feasibility studies, consultation and policy for international transportation systems or infrastructure. Academic researchers and graduate students in transportation planning, international relations, and trade will also find this book useful.- Compiles in one source up-to-date insights on important public transport themes, issues, and debates- Examines a wide range of public transport topics in the multidisciplinary fields of economics, policy, operations, and planning- Bridges the gap between scientific research and policy implementation

Part I

The Link Between Trade and Transportation

Outline

• Chapter 1 Trade and transportation relationship

Chapter 1

Trade and transportation relationship

Abstract

International trade is the exchange of products and services between countries. Trade routes are a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages (links and nodes in a network) used for the commercial transport of cargo, including trade over bodies of water. Trade and the transportation system serving it are interlinked. This chapter presents a brief history of trade and its relationship with the transportation system, along with a description of containerization and the impact that this development has had in international trade. It also includes a general description of the North American and European transportation systems by mode, followed by general statistical data on trade by gateway in North America. This chapter serves as the introduction for a more detailed description of trade in the two commercial blocs and the multimodal transportation system that serves trade flows.

Keywords

International trade evolution; containerization; North American Transportation System; European Union Transportation System

1.1 Introduction

International trade is the exchange of products and services between countries. In this book, we are referring to the trade of goods or cargo, which are products conveyed by some sort of transportation mode. Usually, transportation modes for international trade include water, air, or land. Land transport modes used for international trade are road (trucking) or rail. Usually, more than one mode of transport is used to ship freight from the point of origin in one country to the destination in the receiving country. The development of modal and intermodal transportation infrastructure that includes ports, inland terminals, warehousing facilities, and the like increases regional accessibility to global markets. International multimodal transport is defined as the carriage of goods by at least two different modes of transport, on the basis of a multimodal transport contract, from a place in one country at which the goods are taken in charge by the multimodal transport operator to a place designated for delivery in a different country. This definition is from the United Nations Convention on International Multimodal Transport of Goods (United Nations, 1980).

International trade has evolved throughout history. When local economies grew to a point that the products or commodities needed to satisfy domestic needs in order to continue its development were not available in the region, they started trading for resources produced outside their communities. Many nations flourished due to their trade capabilities, developing transportation infrastructure and procedures to make the movement of goods more efficient.

A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages (links and nodes in a network) used for the commercial transport of cargo, including trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long-distance arteries, which may further be connected to smaller networks of commercial and noncommercial transportation routes (Burns, 2003).

Water modes were the first means of transporting goods, as roadway systems were not well developed. Mesopotamia had fertile basins on the borders of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that allowed this civilization to flourish and use its “water roadways” to import and export goods.

The most commonly known trade route is the Silk Road that connected the Eastern and Western worlds by land and sea. The name was coined by Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen, a German geographer, for the trade of Chinese silk. However, several authors contend that the spice trade with India and Arabia was far more consequential for the economy of the Roman Empire than the silk trade with China.

The Silk Road was not actually a single road, but a network of ancient trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and West Asia with the Mediterranean and the European world, even with parts of North and East Africa. The Silk Road was a name applied to all the routes through Syria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India and on to China (Fig. 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Map of the Silk Road trading routes. Cartwright, M. Globalizaton history. <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_de_la_globalizaci%C3%B3n>.

One clear example of the importance of trade in economic development comes from Europe around the year 1000, where issues with safety and security on mainland trading routes led to the development of important commercial rou...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Preface
• Part I: The Link Between Trade and Transportation
• Part II: Trade and Transportation in North America
• Part III: Trade and Transportation in Europe
• Part IV: Trade and Transportation Future Trends
• Index