Non-Tariff barriers to trade

Over the past three decades the non-tariff barriers to trade have grown in importance inversely to the import duties which have been lowered under GATT auspices. In the current GATT negotiations — the Tokyo round in which the contracting parties have been at work since the autumn of 1973 to solve the acute trade-political problems — non-tariff trade barriers are for the first time playing a major role.     

GATT and the new economic order

The developing countries are calling for a “New Economic Order” because they feel that the trading system discriminates against them. Whether GATT will emerge from the present negotiations better adapted to the needs of the Third World remains to be seen.     

Caught between self-destruction and reform

While neomercantilist policy measures, in the form of both import protection and export subsidization, are still gathering momentum and are just entering their second decade with evidently high growth rates, the dynamic post-war growth of world trade itself has at least temporarily come to a halt: trade fell in volume in 1981 by just under 1% and, in 1982, by about 2%. A new round of multilateral trade negotiations is in prospect for 1985, during which further tariff reductions will be on the agenda, but the main item for discussion will be questions surrounding a reform of GATT which emerged from the Tokyo Round. The following article seeks to establish the true significance of the GATT principles today, investigates the causes of the erosion of discipline within GATT, and deals with important aspects of present efforts to introduce reforms.     

Trade liberalisation round 1973

The GATT Minister Conference to be held in Tokyo from September 12 to 14 will be the prelude to a new round of international negotiations about further liberalisation of world trade. Preparatory work of some six years thus comes to its conclusion.     

Gatt regulation of countertrade: Issues and prospects

In light of persistent hard currency shortages, an increasing number of countries and firms resort to countertrade. Although this practice has the potential to become a major threat to the world trade framework, it is currently not specifically addressed by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). From the context of the upcoming international trade negotiations, this article explores the extent to which countertrade practices are, and should be, incorporated into the GATT framework. It analyzes current GATT jurisdiction, presents policy considerations in favor of and against the inclusion of countertrade into the GATT, and addresses practical considerations to be kept in mind during negotiations on this issue.     

Free trade and protection of the environment: Is the GATT in need of reform?

The GATT negotiations under the Uruguay Round have almost run their course. However, consultations are certain to continue, as critics regard the GATT rules on environmental protection as inadequate. What aspects need to be reformed, and how might the initial reform measures look?     

The multilateral GATT negotiations

The final package of the seventh round of multilateral GATT negotiations has been ready for initialling since April 11, 1979. What has been achieved in these negotiations, commonly known as the Tokyo Round, and what has been left undone?     

Is the GSP antiquated?

The second decade of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) ends in 1980. Should it be continued for another, third decade and if so, what changes sould be made? Can the present Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations be used to effect improvements in the GSP?     

Liberalization strategies for free trade in services

Trade in services is being dealt with in GATT negotiations for the first time in the present Uruguay Round. The discussion on the proper liberalization instrument to be applied to trade in services is highly controversial. This paper attempts to clarify the discussion and outline rational policy options.     

Food shortages and farm prices

In the forthcoming GATT negotiations attention is expected to focus more than in any previous round on the problems in international agricultural trade. The author suggests a set of courses that might be able to restore some semblance of order in world agricultural markets.     

Unsolved problems of world trade policy

Talks began early in March in Geneva between the members of the extended EEC and their trading partners. These negotiations are being held in accordance with GATT Statute which insists that third countries must be compensated for any disadvantages they may suffer as a consequence of Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland joining the EEC.     

Textiles and clothing in the Uruguay Round: Current situation and future perspectives

The success of the entire Uruguay Round of the GATT depends considerably upon the success of the negotiations on the liberalization of world trade in textiles and clothing, since a number of developing countries have made their support for progress in the negotiations on services or safeguards contingent upon progress in this field. What are the present controversies? And what are the chances of resolving them in time?     

The value of making commitments externally: Evidence from WTO accessions

This paper studies the value of external commitment to policy reforms in the case of WTO/GATT accessions. The accessions often entail reforms that go beyond narrowly defined trade liberalization, and have to overcome fierce resistance in the acceding countries, as reflected in protracted negotiations. We study the growth and investment consequences of WTO/GATT accessions, with attention to a possible selection bias. We find that the accessions tend to raise income, but only for those countries that were subject to rigorous accession procedures. Policy commitments associated with the accessions were helpful, especially for countries with poor governance.     

针对产品生产和加工方法贸易措施的违法性分析

在GATT—WTO体系内部,针对产品生产和加工方法贸易措施的合法性,以及如何规范允许使用的针对产品生产和加工方法贸易措施的讨论甚为激烈,成为最有争议的焦点问题之一。本文根据对WTO协议中的GATT第1条、第3条、第20条,以及《技术性贸易壁垒协议》相关条文和案例的研究,分析了针对产品生产和加工方法贸易措施的违法性及其可能的负面效应,以供进一步的研究参考。     

Developing Countries in the WTO System: Applying Robert Hudec's Analysis to the Doha Round

In his 1987 Developing Countries in the GATT System, Robert Hudec concluded that the identity of developing countries in the GATT system was primarily a matter of their demanding non‐reciprocal and preferential treatment, developed countries responding grudgingly to those demands and that this situation had been unfruitful either to support developing country reforms or to discipline developed country restrictions aimed at developing countries. Hudec was pessimistic about the relationship becoming more productive, but his expression of despair offered a glimmer of hope: ‘There are those who believe that the GATT has become so committed to the current policy that the only way to change it would be to start a new organization’. A new organisation was started, the World Trade Organization, but has the WTO achieved what Hudec hoped a new organisation might? At the 1987–95 Uruguay Round, developing country leaders acted as Hudec had hoped. They used international rules and bindings as leverage to support their own internally‐driven reforms; to overcome generations of accumulated protection, to lock in reforms against the backsliding that had undone previous reforms. Dealing with the Uruguay Round's ‘unbalanced outcome’ and the overlapping ‘implementation problem’ have shaped the Doha Round, but the negotiations have misconceived and mismanaged both issues. Rather than seeking to identify their real economics, the negotiations have gone back to the traditional idea of special and differential treatment. Perhaps the largest cost of this mismanagement is that in many developing countries the unilateral momentum for liberalisation has waned. To the extent that the Doha negotiations have drawn attention away from the domestic issues that were the basis of developing country liberalisation – and enhanced the status of negotiators relative to the leaders who fought at home for reform – they have contributed to that waning.     

Tokyo round tariff reductions and the less developed countries

This paper presents new evaluations of the multilateral trade negotiations from the perspectives of (1) the objectives established by GATT signatories in the Tokyo Declaration, and (2) the LDCs’ goals for the negotiations. It also attempts to resolve some of the controversy over the gains and losses which MFN tariff reductions would generate for LDC exports, some but not all of which receive preferential access to advanced-country markets. The analysis indicates that even minor improvements in tariff preferences would have been superior to or have compensated for MFN tariff cuts.     

Fairness in International Trade Negotiations: Developing Countries in the GATT and WTO

Does fairness matter in the hard bargaining and horse‐trading that is associated with trade negotiations? This paper presents a positivist analysis of the particular concepts of fairness that developing countries have appealed to in their trade negotiations within the auspices of the GATT and WTO, how these notions have evolved, and the impact that they have had on negotiated outcomes. Treating the concept of fairness as my central dependent variable, I argue that the notion of fairness can only be understood in terms of the institutional context it is embedded in, which includes institutional structure as well as the participatory processes that underlie it. I advance three hypotheses on the relationship between institutional context: the fairness discourse, and the influence and manoeuvre that member countries can have in shaping that discourse. Focusing on the role of fairness in the negotiation positions of developing countries, I explain its substance and evolution through learning and adaptation by these countries within the very particular institutions of the GATT and the WTO, and the coalitions they form a part of and interact within.     

The US trade reform act of 1974

The 1974 Trade Act gives the US President extensive authority to engage in multilateral trade negotiations in the framework of GATT. The following article offers a survey of the provisions of the Act and discusses its possible impact on international trade relations.     

EC Agricultural reform ad infinitum?

After protracted negotiations, the EC Ministers of Agriculture agreed on a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on July 1st. Will this reform solve the fundamental problems plaguing the common agricultural market? Is it compatible with the GATT?     

The US trade policy towards the EC in the Tokyo round

The seventh round of GATT negotiations was brought to a conclusion in the spring of this year. One of the objects for the USA was to correct the trend of world trade which had been to its disadvantage. Its main concern was to bring about a settlement of the trade relations with the western industrialized states and the EC in particular. Has the USA achieved these aims?