Industrial Sovereignty: Leveraging Special & Differential Treatment for Value Addition
Special & Differential Treatment as a Catalyst for Value-Added Manufacturing In the landscape of international trade, Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) serves as a critical bridge for developing nations aiming to transition from raw material exporters to industrial powerhouses through Value-Added Manufacturing (VAM) . This article explores how SDT provisions provide the " policy space " necessary for countries to process their own resources, climb global value chains (GVCs), and foster sustainable economic growth. 1. Defining the Core Concepts To understand the synergy between these two concepts, we must first define their individual roles in global trade: Value-Added Manufacturing (VAM): The process of increasing the economic value of a product at each stage of production. For example, instead of exporting raw cocoa beans, a country processes them into cocoa butter or finished chocolate. This generates higher revenue, creates skilled jobs, and improves the tra...