Study guide for GEO 330 – Spring 2025, Exam 2
Use the course materials (textbook readings, lectures, documentaries and podcasts) to fill in the
study guide. The guide has two parts to fill out each week: (1) definitions and key concepts; and (2)
case studies and examples. You will be allowed to use this guide (including your notes; max 6
double-sided pages) to complete Exam 2.
Define or explain the following key terms and concepts:
It helps to include examples discussed in the lectures; make sure that you can interpret any
associated maps or graphs from the lectures.
The new trade map:
Export
Import
“Spatial Fix”
Balance of trade
Trade surplus
Trade deficit
Intra-regional trade
Extra-regional trade
Friendshoring
Trade dependency:
Trade dependence
Commodity export dependence
Food trade dependence
Trade wars and the rules of the game:
Trade promotion methods (define and explain why they are used):
•
Subsidies
•
Export Financing/the Export-Import Bank
•
Foreign Trade Zones
The World Trade Organization (WTO)
Countervailing duty
Dumping
Antidumping duty
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Intellectual Property (IP)
TRIPS
Trade restriction methods (define and explain why they are used):
 Import tariffs

Export tariffs

Import Quota

Export Quota

Voluntary export restraint (VER)

Embargoes

Local content requirements

Non-tariff barriers
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Precautionary Principle
Industrial Policy
Regional economic integration:
Levels of regional integration:
 Free trade area
 Customs union
 Common market
 Economic union
 Political union
Trade creation
Trade diversion
The European Union:
European Coal and Steel Community
Maastricht Treaty
Brexit
European Parliament
European Court of Justice
Eurozone/Euro area
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Maastricht Economic Convergence Criteria
(Economic) development indicators (define and explain what is and is not included in each):
Economic development
Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Transition Economy
Economic Freedom
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross National Income (GNI)
Gini Index
Human Development Index (HDI)
Social Progress Index (SPI)
Answer the following questions about the case studies and examples:
The new trade map:
Who are the world’s export “powerhouses”? How has that shifted since the 1950s?
Have we hit "peak trade"? Explain the details of the debate.
What is included in the category of merchandise exports? Be sure you can identify whether
specific examples are merchandise exports.
What is included in the category of services exports? Be sure you can identify whether specific
examples are services exports.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect international trade?
Which region has the most intra-regional trade? Why?
What do we mean by "persistent peripheries"?
What is “friendshoring” and how is it affecting international trade?
Trade dependency:
How can you measure trade dependency?
What were the causes and consequences of the global coffee crisis? What countries were most
affected?
How do global coffee prices get set?
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How did countries, cooperatives, and individual farmers try to overcome the coffee crisis and
prevent/mitigate the impacts of future crises?
Trade wars and the rules of the game:
In the Boeing versus Airbus (US versus EU) subsidy battle, what types of subsidies has each side
used? What has the WTO's dispute settlement process ruled in terms of which subsidies are
allowed and which are not?
What are the 5 principles for the world trading system promoted by the World Trade Organization
(WTO)?
Why would the US government provide funds to Brazilian cotton farmers? What does this
example illustrate in terms of the broader WTO trade dispute resolution system?
How and why are import tariffs being used by countries such as the US?
What have been the impacts of the US-China trade war on the pattern of US imports?
How did governments use tariffs, quotas and other trade interventions to try to manage
pandemic- and Russia-Ukraine war-related food supply issues?
What is "multipurpose trade policy"? How might it affect the global trading system in the years to
come? What are some examples?
How do the Canadian content rules for music (MAPL) work? And, why were they put in place?
How do food safety regulations for chicken farming differ between the US and EU? How did the
so-called "chlorinated chicken debate" affect trade agreement negotiations? What does this tell us
about non-tariff barriers to trade?
How are corporate strategies being reshaped by new trade dynamics?
Regional economic integration and the European Union:
What are the two possible reasons why an EU member might not have adopted the euro as its
currency?
How did interest rates for government debt change as the Euro was adopted by EU members and
then following the global financial crisis that started in the US in 2008?
How were Greece and Germany affected by joining the Euro area, both initially and then after the
global financial crisis? What are some key differences that affected the two countries ’
experiences?
What were some of the causes and consequences of Brexit? Specifically, how has it affected
corporate strategy and patterns of trade?
(Economic) development indicators:
What are (economic) development indicators? Why is the word economic in parentheses?
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Is a country’s Economic Freedom rating a good measure of economic development? Why or why
not?
What is the difference between what GDP tells you about a country and what GNI tells you about
a country?
What are the main design principles for the Social Progress Index (SPI) and what is the rationale
behind them?
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