Gilbert Gagné – författare

This book discusses the treatment of cultural products within international trade law, focusing on preferential trade agreements.Trade and culture intersect when cultural products are involved. These mainly encompass cinema, broadcasting, music, videos, and publishing, either in traditional or digital formats. As such products reflect the cultural identities of states, they have led to a debate as to whether, or the extent to which, they should be exempted from trade obligations. With multilateral negotiations in gridlock, states have increasingly turned to preferential trade agreements. Concurrently, digital technologies have revolutionized how cultural contents are created and distributed. The book analyzes the provisions relating to cultural products within trade agreements, as well as their relationship with the provisions and guidelines on cultural goods and services under the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity. Drawing comparisons between states as to the treatment of cultural products in preferential trade agreements and considering the norms and provisions relating to cultural products under different regimes, the book offers a truly comprehensive overview of the evolution of the trade and culture debate.The book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of cultural products, trade agreements, digital technology, trade law, and cultural diversity.

This book discusses the treatment of cultural products within international trade law, focusing on preferential trade agreements.Trade and culture intersect when cultural products are involved. These mainly encompass cinema, broadcasting, music, videos, and publishing, either in traditional or digital formats. As such products reflect the cultural identities of states, they have led to a debate as to whether, or the extent to which, they should be exempted from trade obligations. With multilateral negotiations in gridlock, states have increasingly turned to preferential trade agreements. Concurrently, digital technologies have revolutionized how cultural contents are created and distributed. The book analyzes the provisions relating to cultural products within trade agreements, as well as their relationship with the provisions and guidelines on cultural goods and services under the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity. Drawing comparisons between states as to the treatment of cultural products in preferential trade agreements and considering the norms and provisions relating to cultural products under different regimes, the book offers a truly comprehensive overview of the evolution of the trade and culture debate.The book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of cultural products, trade agreements, digital technology, trade law, and cultural diversity.

As the first exporter of cultural goods and services, the United States has long held that such products should be treated like any other merchandise and be liberalized. On the other hand, for countries such as France and Canada who are concerned about the impact of economic globalization and the digital revolution on their cultural identity, cultural products should be exempted from economic liberalization or subject to a cultural exception.These conflicting views and interests between states as to the treatment of cultural products in international economic law lie at the hearth of the trade and culture debate. These differences have led to serious tensions over the liberalization of cultural services within the World Trade Organization, as well as to a Convention within UNESCO to recognize the economic and cultural character of cultural products and the states’ right to pursue cultural policies. With most states still not keen on liberalizing the cultural sector and the stalemate in the Doha Round, the United States has turned to preferential trade agreements to secure its policy preferences on the treatment of cultural products. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the US government has concluded eleven trade agreements grouping sixteen countries and has been involved in three sets of plurilateral negotiations, with major implications for the evolution of the trade and culture debate.

The renegotiation and possible termination of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sparked a lot of interest and concern in light of the United States’ declared objective to “rebalance the benefits” of the agreement.