World trade round
World trade rounds are a political element in the liberalization of international trade. They have been used since 1947 under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Although the duration of the negotiations increased and the progress of the negotiations decreased in the course of the trade rounds, progress towards the liberalization of international trade has been made with each new trade round. Thus, while the world trade rounds have proven to be slow but goal-oriented arrangements to reduce the various forms of trade barriers .
Development and trends
The first four world trade rounds resulted in substantial tariff cuts, averaging 35% each time. Since the sixth trade round, more and more topics have been included in the talks, such as anti- dumping and the protection of intellectual property . While tariff reductions were initially in the foreground, various additional agreements in the area of non-tariff trade barriers were included in the Tokyo Round .
The conduct of negotiations in the nine rounds so far is characterized by two trends in particular:
- The importance of customs duties in negotiations has continuously decreased. This is due on the one hand to the now low level of tariffs and on the other hand to the increasing importance of other trade barriers. The increasing importance of the service sector brought a focus on this area. In addition, the signatory states recognized that the GATT was reducing their political leeway with regard to tariffs and tried to compensate for their loss of power there, in particular through non-tariff trade barriers.
- Another trend was the transition from bilateral negotiations to multilateral agreements. The first rounds of negotiations were purely bilateral. With the increasing complicity of the agreements and the increasing number of members, conducting bilateral negotiations proved to be more and more difficult. With the Kennedy Round one went over to flat, linear tariff reductions. The establishment of the WTO finally put the emphasis on multilateral negotiations. Nevertheless, bilateral talks (especially between the big trading blocs, the USA and the EU ) remain an important element of the negotiation.
overview
No. | round | Duration | Attendees | Additional trading volume | main results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | GATT graduation in Geneva | 1947 | 23 | $ 10 billion |
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2. | Annecy round | 1949 | 13 | not available |
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3. | Torquay round | 1950-1951 | 38 | not available |
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4th | Geneva round | 1955-1956 | 26th | $ 2.5 billion |
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5. | Dillon round | 1960-1961 | 26th | $ 4.9 billion |
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6th | Kennedy Round | 1964-1967 | 62 | $ 40 billion |
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7th | Tokyo round | 1973-1979 | 99 | $ 155 billion |
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8th. | Uruguay Round | 1986-1994 | 125 | $ 755 billion | |
9. | Doha round | 2001-2016 | 160 |
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Individual evidence
- ↑ Held, S. (2006). The liability of the EC for violations of WTO law (Vol. 4). Mohr Siebeck. P. 20.
- ↑ Kutschker, M., & Schmid, S. (2010). International management. Oldenbourg Publishing House. P. 47.
- ↑ Engelberger, L. (2004). The direct applicability of WTO law in Switzerland: Basics and perspectives in the context of international legal developments (Vol. 7). Peter Lang. P. 41/42.
- ^ Miles, D., Scott, A., & Breedon, F. (2014). Macroeconomics: understanding global economic contexts. John Wiley & Sons. P. 249.
- ^ Pfahl, S. (2013). International trade and environmental protection: Conflicts of objectives and starting points for balancing interests. Springer publishing house. P. 81.
- ↑ Felbermayr, G., Kohler, W., Treier, V., Dieter, H., Herrmann, C., Beverelli, C., ... & Stoll, PT (2014). Bali Agreement: Who Wins and Who Pays the Costs. Ifo Schnelldienst , 67 (03), 3–34. P. 10.
Web links
- World trade round is history - article in Handelsblatt, December 20, 2015.