The Evolution of the Trade Regime

by Barton, John H.

• ISBN13: 9780691124506
• ISBN10: 0691124507
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-13
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

The Evolution of the Trade Regimeoffers a comprehensive political-economic history of the development of the world's multilateral trade institutions, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). While other books confine themselves to describing contemporary GATT/WTO legal rules or analyzing their economic logic, this is the first to explain the logic and development behind these rules. The book begins by examining the institutions' rules, principles, practices, and norms from their genesis in the early postwar period to the present. It evaluates the extent to which changes in these institutional attributes have helped maintain or rebuild domestic constituencies for open markets. The book considers these questions by looking at the political, legal, and economic foundations of the trade regime from many angles. The authors conclude that throughout most of GATT/WTO history, power politics fundamentally shaped the creation and evolution of the GATT/WTO system. Yet in recent years, many aspects of the trade regime have failed to keep pace with shifts in underlying material interests and ideas, and the challenges presented by expanding membership and preferential trade agreements.

Author Biography

Richard H. Steinberg is Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Box, and Tables	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Political Analysis of the Trade Regime	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Understanding the Political Economy of the GATT/WTO Regime	p. 5
State Power and International Trade Institutions	p. 10
Nonstate Actors and Domestic Institutional Design	p. 14
Ideas and Institutional Design	p. 16
Accommodating Changes in Power, Interests, and Ideas	p. 18
Alternative Perspectives on the Trade Regime	p. 22
Creating Constituencies and Rules for Open Markets	p. 27
Why Create a Trade Regime?	p. 29
The GATT 1947 Trade Regime	p. 38
The Early GATT	p. 41
Creating the WTO	p. 47
Making Authoritative Decisions	p. 48
Alternatives to Multilateralism: Preferential Trade Agreements	p. 52
Conclusion: The Trade Regime, Domestic Constituencies, and Free Trade	p. 55
The Politics of the GATT/WTO Legal System: Legislative and Judicial Processes	p. 61
Legislative Rules and Processes --and Transatlantic Power	p. 61
Implementation and Dispute Settlement: The Expansion of Judicial Lawmaking and Transatlantic Power	p. 67
Conclusion: Prospects for Continued Viability of WTO Legislative and Judicial Rules	p. 87
Expanding Trade Rules and Conventions: Designing New Agreements at the Border	p. 91
Introduction	p. 91
The Uruguay Round Tasks	p. 92
Extension of Scope of Trade System	p. 94
Incorporating the "Laggard" Sectors	p. 98
Consolidating the Codes	p. 108
The Un ?nished Business	p. 119
Conclusion	p. 120
Extending Trade Rules to Domestic Regulations: Developing "Behind the Border" Instruments	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
Bringing in Services: Negotiation of the GATS	p. 127
Health, Agricultural Regulations, and Industrial Standards	p. 135
Intellectual Property Protection and the Trading System	p. 139
The Newest Problems: New Tools, Actors, and Coalitions?	p. 143
The Search for New Principles and New Coalitions	p. 149
Expansion of GATT/WTO Membership and the Proliferation of Regional Groups	p. 153
Introduction	p. 153
GATT/WTO Membership Conditions	p. 154
Increasing Involvement of Developing Countries	p. 160
Different Perspectives and Coalitions	p. 169
Responding to the Concerns of the Developing Nations	p. 172
Preferential Trade Arrangements and Developing Countries	p. 174
Accommodating Nonstate Actors: Representation of Interests, Ideas, and Information in a State-Centric System	p. 182
The Role of Nonstate Actors	p. 183
Complaints about Process: "Underrepresentation" of New Nonstate Actors'Interests	p. 192
Domestic Institutional Processes of Interest Representation and Intermediation	p. 194
Representation at the WTO: The Legislative Process	p. 198
Representation at the WTO: The Judicial Process	p. 199
Conclusions 201
Conclusions	p. 204
Is Trade Politics "Low" Politics?	p. 205
What Is New about the WTO?	p. 208
An International Bureaucracy	p. 211
Measuring Success	p. 213
In Conclusion: Trade Relations in the Twenty-First Century	p. 214
Bibliography	p. 219
Index	p. 233
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