scholarly journals Will International Rules on Subsidies Disrupt the World Trading System?

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 877-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Bagwell ◽  
Robert W Staiger

We provide a first formal analysis of the international rules that govern the use of subsidies to domestic production. Our analysis highlights the impact of the new subsidy disciplines that were added to GATT rules with the creation of the WTO. While GATT subsidy rules were typically viewed as weak and inadequate, our results suggest that the key changes introduced by the WTO subsidy rules may ultimately do more harm than good to the multilateral trading system by undermining the ability of tariff negotiations to serve as the mechanism for expanding market access to more efficient levels.

Author(s):  
T. M. Isachenko

Maximizing the benefits of international division of labor and sharing the achievements of innovative development is possible only with the existence of a strict system of rules and regulations. Such system would enable fair regulation of international trade, ensure the transparency of market access and make it possible to challenge discriminatory measures, as well as to maintain certain measures to protect the interests of domestic producers. The creation of the multilateral trading system has started with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and was subsequently developed in the documents and codes, the decisions of the negotiating rounds. Since 1995, a set of rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) became the basis of the multilateral trading system. All rules are worked out at the multilateral level. However, in recent years the negotiations within the WTO has slowed down, that affected the quality and speed of decision-making on key issues of global development. That provokes the discussion it on a certain crisis of the WTO as the main regulator of world trade, and therefore the need to provide both institutional and substantive reforms.


Author(s):  
Douglas A. Irwin

This chapter concludes that international trade and trade policies are frequently the object of condemnation rather than approbation. It explains how the condemnation are often the result of misconceptions about the benefits of international trade, the impact of trade policies, and the role and function of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Though the last few decades have been marked by a general reduction in trade barriers, the matter is not settled because the pressures to weaken the commitment to open markets never abate. The chapter emphasizes on difficult policy choices at the intersection of trade policy and climate change that could hold key battles over the world trading system in coming years. It also highlights the several benefits of world trade and the contribution of trade to the welfare and prosperity of billions of people around the world.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
Arno Dal Ri Júnior ◽  
Mariana Clara De Andrade

 ResumoO presente artigo aborda as negociações internacionais relativas à tutela ambiental no sistema multilateral de comércio no período que compreende o fim da Rodada de Tóquio (1979) até o fim da Rodada do Uruguai (1994) e a instituição da Organização Mundial do Comércio. Para tanto, analisa-se brevemente as mudanças surgidas no cenário do Direito Internacional Ambiental no ínterim situado entre as duas rodadas referidas para que se contextualize os impactos dos eventos ocorridos no período, particularmente com os adventos da Conferência de Estocolmo (1972) e a Rio-92 (1992). A partir disso, são analisados documentos das negociações do grupo GATT relevantes a questões ambientais, com o objetivo de se verificar o desenvolvimento institucional e normativo ocorrido durante o período citado, com enfoque particular na Rodada do Uruguai. Verifica-se a forte influência dos acontecimentos entre as décadas de 1970 e 1990 no cenário internacional e, particularmente, no sistema multilateral de comércio, culminando com a inclusão da preocupação com o desenvolvimento sustentável no preâmbulo do Acordo Constitutivo da OMC, em 1994.Palavras-chaveGATT; Rodada do Uruguai; Meio Ambiente; Sistema Multilateral de Comércio; Direito Internacional Ambiental. AbstractThe present article studies the international negotiations related to the environmental protection in the multilateral trading system, in the period comprised from the end of the Tokyo Round (1979) to the end of the Uruguay Round and the institution of the World Trade Organization (1994). In order to do so, it describes briefly the changes emerged in the context of International Environmental Law during the interim between the two rounds, so as to expose the impacts of the events that occurred in this period, especially those brought about by the advent of the Stockholm Conference (1972) and the Rio-92 (1992). Afterwards, this work analyses the documents concerning environmental matters produced in the negotiations of the GATT group in the period post-1972, with the aim of verifying the institutional and legal development of the system during the aforementioned interlude, with particular attention to the Uruguay Round. From this perspective, it can be observed the strong influence of the events that took place from 1970 to 1990 in the international scenario and, particularly, in the multilateral trading system, culminating with the assertion of the concern with sustainable development in the Preamble of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, in 1994. KeywordsGATT; Uruguay Round; Environment; Multilateral Trading System; International Environmental Law.


2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parthapratim Pal

One of the most striking developments in the world trading system since the mid 1990s has been the surge in Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). From about 50 till 1990, the number of RTAs has crossed 250 in 2003. As trading within RTAs does not come under the purview of World Trade Organization (WTO), this explosive growth of regionalism is threatening to emerge as an alternative to the WTO led international trading system. This has initiated an intense debate among economists whether RTAs are “building blocks” or “stumbling blocks” of the multilateral trading system. In this backdrop, this paper traces the reasons behind this resurgent regionalism and surveys the literature on RTAs and its interaction with the multilateral trading system. This paper attempts to look at these issues from the perspective of a developing country.


Author(s):  
James P. Murphy ◽  
Carolan McLarney

Regionalism and the Multilateral Trading System: The Role of Regional Trade Agreements is a discussion about the new reality and the evolution of the reduction of international barriers to freer trade under the World Trade Organization (WTO) formerly the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). The chapter devotes time to the two largest regional trade agreements (RTAs), the European Union (EU) with 28 countries and North American Trading Agreement (NAFTA) with three countries account for half of all world trade (WTO, 2017a). The US set a course post World War II as the proponent of globalization and freer trade. RTAs at that time were failing or inconsequential. In response to the EU trading block, the US committed to a (Free Trade Area) FTA with Canada and subsequently the NAFTA with Canada and Mexico the rest of the world began to become concerned about being shut out of a preferential trade deal. The main theme of the chapter is that trade liberalization is moving forward because of Regional Trading agreements, not the WTO which is stalled and may never restart in its current form.


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