Trade Related Measures in Plastic Rule Governance and China's Participation

ABSTRACT

This article examines the adequacy and state practice of employing trade‐related measures to mitigate the global plastic pollution. Trade spans the entire lifecycle of plastics, bringing plastic with high economic value and deep integration within global value chains. As a global environmental crisis, plastic pollution necessitates a synergistic approach to international governance. Discipline in plastic trade under the international legal framework not only helps reconcile the friction between trade and the environment, but also addresses the systemic inefficiencies stemming from regulatory fragmentation. With a focus on three key processes: the Plastic Waste Amendments to the Basel Convention, the WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade, and the negotiations toward an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, this paper examines the basic paradigms of plastic trade governance and analyzes the deficiencies and geo‐economic obstacles it faces. Given the consideration of global plastic governance's high reliance on state participation, the paper further takes China as a primary case study, analyzing approaches for China to participate in plastic trade governance with the model of foreign‐related rule of law.