International connections, particularly trade and transportation systems, affect the economic relationship between the countries. The European Union and North America are massive producers and importers of goods all over the world. The EU includes twenty-eight European countries, and North America is composed of Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Different trade policies and cooperation with transborder regions provide countries with the ability to enhance their economies and increase their influence on the global arena. This essay aims to compare and contrast the European and North American freight transportation systems, globalized trade, and global policy implications.
The freight transportation systems of both North America and Europe have their similarities and differences in the way of management. First of all, in the aspects of the use, creation, and infrastructure, their strategy seems alike. However, because of the environmental conditions and geographical locations, they vary when it comes to logistic policies and regulations. Comparing those two freight transportation systems, it seems that North America exceeds Europe due to the specifics of climate. European transport system created more land transportation emphasizing the passengers. In turn, North America aims to accentuate freight transportation.
Moreover, those two countries also differ on the topic of globalized trade and global policy implications. The United States has been striving to strengthen its influence in the Asian market and reinforce its role in international trade. However, they experienced some critical moments when the Trump administration tried to resist their trading partners, for example, Europe and Japan, when instead they could unite and pressure China altogether (Bown, 2019). The European Union chose a different strategy and suggested the conditions for cooperation in the broader, more renewed market. However, there are still some similarities in the globalized trade. For instance, according to Bohn et al.,(2018) “trade in value-added created in services increased more than the trade in value-added created in manufacturing, and this holds especially for the European Union and North America” (p.2733). Therefore, their value-added trade increased more in the sphere of services rather than in the production of goods.
Globalization has also impacted the development of different policies and the way of trading. The extension of the transit systems and cargo transportation eventually influenced several factors such as ecology, massive gas emissions, and emergencies. The European Union had to take measures to reduce the consequences and created policies to control the outcomes of global trade. The countries should not only discuss that particular issue but also pay attention to cybersecurity, digital services tax, and data localization (Bown, 2019). Therefore, it leads to the need for more cooperation between the United States and European Union.
The most exciting part of future research is to observe the relationships in trade between North America, Europe, and Asia. There are powerful and influential trading countries that can work on global policies, cooperation, and contribution to the freight transportation systems. For example, the efficiency of the European railway transportation shows its effectiveness and should be encouraged (Wiegmans et al., 2018). Therefore, the European rail freight system can be viewed and used in international transport communication.
Overall, the freight transportation systems play a crucial role in the global trade between North America and the European Union. The benchmarks of those two countries have differences and similarities that depend on several factors and reasons such as geographical position, environment, and economic specifics. Global policy implications and globalized trade can influence the economic and political positions of the countries on a global scale.
References
Wiegmans, B., Champagne-Gelinas, A., Duchesne, S., Slack, B., & Witte, P. (2018). Rail and road freight transport network efficiency of Canada, member states of the EU, and the USA. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 28, 54-65.
Bown. C., P. (2019). Peterson Institute for International Economics. Translatlantic Policy Impacts of the US-EU Trade Conflict.
Bohn, T., Brakman, S., & Dietzenbacher, E. (2018). The role of services in globalisation. The World Economy, 41(10), 2732-2749.