Ludovic Arnaud

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International Development (2019 cohort)

My thesis centres on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2017-19 to understand the long-term implications of Mexico’s integrationist development strategy. It builds on the legal text of the old (NAFTA) and new (USMCA) trade agreements, extensive media coverage of the negotiations, and over 80 interviews conducted with negotiators, politicians, business and union leaders in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. It identifies a worsening of the market access-policy space trade-off characteristic of North-South trade agreements; and investigates how closer economic ties between Mexico and the US prevented the Trump administration from achieving some of its boldest objectives. It then analyses the reasons for the inclusion of unprecedented labour provisions in USMCA, and their implication for future North-South trade relations.

Ludovic studied a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at King’s College London and an MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. He has worked for several United Nations agencies including the Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Since 2015, he is a founder and board member of French NGO Isofaculté, which works with the French Ministry of Justice and NGOs to promote social reinsertion and social cohesion through equine-assisted therapy.