Purpose Labour mobility is increasingly recognized as an important component of a globalized international trading system. This paper aims to examine the role of temporary entry commitments in international trade agreements toward facilitating global labour mobility. Design/methodology/approach This paper traces three decades of temporary entry provisions in international trade agreements signed by the USA and Canada, beginning with their bilateral Canada–US Free Trade Agreement and culminating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Findings The paper finds that while many countries have continued to liberalize their temporary entry commitments in various trade agreements, the USA has reversed course in the previous decade, hampering international progress. Meanwhile, Canada has pursued ever greater labour mobility provisions with most of its trading partners. Practical implications The unique roles played by the USA, Canada and other trading partners in advancing a coherent international labour mobility agenda are considered. To continue to advance labour mobility in trade agreements moving forward, policy alternatives to the “all” or “nothing” approaches pursued by Canada and the USA are suggested. Originality/value To the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to formally evaluate labour mobility in the TPP and the only paper to outline the evolution of temporary entry in the US vs Canadian trade agreements over three decades.

中文翻译：

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促进贸易协定中的劳动力流动

目的劳动力流动日益被认为是全球化的国际贸易体系的重要组成部分。本文旨在研究临时入境承诺在国际贸易协定中对促进全球劳动力流动的作用。设计/方法/方法本文追溯了美国和加拿大签署的国际贸易协定中的三十年临时入境规定，从它们的双边加拿大-美国自由贸易协定开始，最后达到跨太平洋伙伴关系（TPP）。调查结果本文发现，尽管许多国家继续放宽其在各种贸易协定中的临时入境承诺，但美国在过去十年中已扭转了局面，阻碍了国际进步。同时，加拿大已与其大多数贸易伙伴一道追求更大的劳工流动规定。实际意义考虑了美国，加拿大和其他贸易伙伴在推进一致的国际劳工流动议程中所扮演的独特角色。为了继续推动向前发展的贸易协定中的劳动力流动，建议加拿大和美国采用“全部”或“没有”方法的政策替代方案。原创性/价值据作者所知，本文是第一个正式评估TPP中劳动力流动性的论文，也是概述美国与加拿大贸易协定在三十年来临时入境的演变的唯一论文。考虑了加拿大和其他贸易伙伴，以推进协调一致的国际劳工流动议程。为了继续推动向前发展的贸易协定中的劳动力流动，建议加拿大和美国采用“全部”或“没有”方法的政策替代方案。原创性/价值据作者所知，本文是第一个正式评估TPP中劳动力流动性的论文，也是概述美国与加拿大贸易协定在三十年来临时入境的演变的唯一论文。考虑了加拿大和其他贸易伙伴，以推进协调一致的国际劳工流动议程。为了继续推动向前发展的贸易协定中的劳动力流动，建议加拿大和美国采用“全部”或“没有”方法的政策替代方案。原创性/价值据作者所知，本文是第一个正式评估TPP中劳动力流动性的论文，也是概述美国与加拿大贸易协定在三十年来临时入境的演变的唯一论文。