World Trade Organization (WTO)

The World Trade Organization is likely to be a major international organization for the foreseeable future. This volume, the first full-length study of the WTO and GATT from the viewpoint of public choice and political economy, details the mechanics of the multilateral trading system that emerged from the Uruguay Round of GATT. The authors, who were involved in the negotiations of the Uruguay Round, explain why WTO rules are phrased the way they are, the successes and failures of WTO and GATT, and how business, industrial associations and political lobbies influence the multilateral trading system.

Condon examines how NAFTA, WTO, and global business affect the major issues of our time, such as AIDS, global security, and illegal immigration. NAFTA and WTO interact in ways that can make or break a company's strategy. Business strategists must consider the impact of today's rules and how future developments will affect them. However, this book is about more than just business. The globalization of law and business affects the lives of everyone.

The importance of the issues raised by the WTO Agreement cannot be over-estimated. The completion of the Uruguay Round of negotiations has resulted in the creation of international agreements which themselves raise issues of great difficulty and importance in legal terms, and of practical importance for international trade in goods and services and for the entire field of intellectual property rights. This book, written by experts from throughout the world, examines the implementation of the GATT Agreement and its national and international legal and constitutional ramifications. There is a chapter on each major trading entity and selected other nations. Each of these chapters describes and analyses the important constitutional issues regarding the procedures for approving the Uruguay Round treaty agreements and implementing them in domestic law.

The failure to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization's Ministerial Conference in Seattle in December 1999 has clearly demonstrated that, at present, no clear perspective for the future course of international trade policies exists. The issues that may enter the agenda of a 'millennium round' under the auspices of the WTO therefore merit careful analysis of their likely economic, social and political impact.

THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION MILLENNIUM ROUND covers these substantive issues and the broader implications of a potential trade round. The contributors argue persuasively for meaningful reforms at both national and international levels, and a clear case for freer trade emerges from their analyses. This comprehensive and up-to-date volume provides:

-- a guide to the policies, interests and perspectives of the major players;

-- broad coverage of the economic issues and the politics involved in the various areas of international trade policymaking;

-- an analysis of the necessity and the likelihood of further liberalization in both old and new sectors as well as of systematic and institutional issues; and

-- recommendations for change urgently required to reform both the WTO as an organization and the international trading system in order to meet the demands of a global economy.

This book is a significant resource that will be indispensable to students, professionals and all people seeking to increase their understanding of this highly topical subject.

Globalization means that today, more than ever before, growth in developing countries and the reduction of poverty depend on world trade and a well functioning trading system. This volume reviews developing countries' trade policies and institutions, and the challenges they face in the World Trade Organization—where the rules that govern the international trading system are set.

A critical review of recent U.S. trade policies that have failed to enforce sufficient reciprocity and overall trade balance, with suggestions for policies that foster a more balanced and realistic pattern of world trade growth.

With the negotiation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the policies affecting access to, and conditions of competition in, service markets are today firmly rooted in the multilateral trading system. Written with policymakers and practitioners in mind, the essays in this volume address some of the most pressing questions arising in services trade today -- some of which were not addressed by the first generation of GATS negotiators.

This book explains the role and limitations of liberalized international trade on the global environment and sustainable development. A distinguishing feature of this book is an integration of trade, environment, and development perspectives for operationally meaningful policy purposes. The topics include an analysis of the global trade regimes, their interrelationships with the existing multilateral environmental agreements, institutional mechanisms governed by the World Trade Organization, and a framework for pragmatic reforms.

Since its creation in January 1995, the World Trade Organization has expanded the reach of trade rules deep into the regulatory structure of almost 140 sovereign states. As a result, it has found itself at the centre of controversy in areas that are well outside the domain of traditional trade policy. Although there are demands for reform the architects of the WTO are proud of having created what they consider to be a major achievement in institutionalised global economic co-operation. The central question is how to respond to the pressures now falling on the WTO system while ensuring the preservation of a trading system that has led to unprecedented growth in the world economy. This question is addressed in this book. A number of prominent personalities representing a broad spectrum of interests in the field of international policy-making, and with a strong interest in a well-functioning trading system, offer their views on the role of the WTO in Global Governance.

Who is afraid of the WTO, the World Trade Organization? The list is long and varied. Many workers--and the unions that represent them--claim that WTO agreements increase import competition and threaten their jobs. Environmentalists accuse the WTO of encouraging pollution and preventing governments from defending national environmental standards. Human rights advocates block efforts to impose trade sanctions in defense of human rights. While anti-capitalist protesters regard the WTO as a tool of big business--particularly of multinational corporations--other critics charge the WTO with damaging the interests of developing countries by imposing free-market trade policies on them before they are ready. In sum, the WTO is considered exploitative, undemocratic, unbalanced, corrupt, or illegitimate. This book is in response to the many misinformed, often exaggerated arguments leveled against the WTO. Kent Jones explains in persuasive and engaging detail the compelling reasons for the WTO's existence and why it is a force for progress toward economic and non-economic goals worldwide. Although protests against globalization and the WTO have raised public awareness of the world trading system, they have not, Jones demonstrates, raised public understanding. Clarifying the often-muddled terms of the debate, Jones debunks some of the most outrageous allegations against the WTO and argues that global standards for environmental protection and human rights belong in separate agreements, not the WTO. Developing countries need more trade, not less, and even more importantly, they need a system of rules that gives them--the smaller, weaker, and more vulnerable players in world trade--the best possible chance of pursuing their trade interests among the larger and more powerful developed countries. Timely and important, Who's Afraid of the WTO? provides an overview of the most important aspects of the world trading system and the WTO's role in it while tackling the most popular anti-WTO arguments. While Jones does not dismiss the threat that recent political protests pose for the world trading system, he reveals the fallacies in their arguments and presents a strong case in favor of the WTO.

Regulation of world trade is beyond the control of any one nation. Moreover, Western capitalism is losing its influence in trade negotiations. Policy makers must be alerted to these changes and adjust to them creatively. Fischer argues that the United States needs allies in the new era of world trade, that the private sector is increasingly influential in driving the world trade agenda, and that trade globalization creates a new paradigm that supplants traditional national competition.