Economics
Uruguay Round
The Uruguay Round was a series of negotiations conducted under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that resulted in the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. It aimed to reduce trade barriers and establish rules for international trade, leading to significant liberalization of global trade and the expansion of trade agreements among member countries.
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10 Key excerpts on "Uruguay Round"
eBook - ePub- Peter Uimonen, Arvind Subramanian, Naheed Kirmani, Nur Calika, Michael Leidy, and Richard Harmsen(Authors)
- 1995(Publication Date)
- INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND(Publisher)
I Economic Implications of the Uruguay Round Richard Harmsen and Arvind Subramanian 1 The Final Act of the Uruguay Round was signed in Marrakesh in April 1994, bringing to a conclusion the eighth and most ambitious set of multilateral trade negotiations. One hundred and twenty-five countries participated in the Round, which will reduce tariff and nontariff barriers to trade in goods, strengthen trade rules and extend multilateral rules to new areas—services and intellectual property—and establish the World Trade Organization. Developing countries participated more actively in the negotiations than hitherto and will be more fully integrated into the multilateral trading system after the Round. This paper investigates the economic implications of these different aspects of the Uruguay Round on industrial, developing, and transition economies, based on information available at the time of preparation of the paper. A quick reference guide to the Round provides a synopsis of the main results (Appendix I) and should be read in conjunction with individual sections below. Trade Liberalization A number of studies have estimated the implications of the Uruguay Round agreement for global income and trade. 2 Almost all predated the conclusion of the Round and were, in general, based on assumptions about the likely outcomes with respect to reductions in tariffs on industrial and agricultural products, rather than the final results. Also, estimates of price effects of trade liberalization are confined to the agricultural sector and therefore very partial
eBook - PDFThe WTO Primer
Tracing Trade's Visible Hand Through Case Studies
- R. Fulton, K. Buterbaugh(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
The Uruguay Round created a new system for international trade. It expanded dramatically the coverage of the GATT, especially in the areas of services, intellectual property, and domestic policies of states affecting investment and agriculture. More importantly, it created for the first time a formal organization, the WTO, to help oversee and administer the GATT system. As part of this, the WTO was given the power to settle disputes between parties to the agreement. Many have said that these changes were the beginning of a truly integrated world economy with the WTO as its linchpin. Interestingly, as the round began, creating a world trade organization was not one of the participants’ goals. It was almost an afterthought. A formal organization for the GATT was proposed only late in the round, briefly disputed, and then accepted. It was not until after the round was over that the significance of the WTO was rec- ognized by GATT members. In order to understand the WTO, we must first understand where it came from, and this requires us to examine the Uruguay Round. That is the focus of this chap- ter. The following chapter will examine in more detail the structural aspects of the WTO—its functions, organization, and role in administering the GATT. We begin with the context surrounding the beginning of the Uruguay Round, then move on to an examination of the positions of major countries or blocks of countries on issues within the round. We then examine the negotiation process leading to the creation of the round and within the round itself. And finally, we examine ratification of the Uruguay Round by the United States since its failure to ratify would have scuttled the agreement. Before moving to an examination of the round, we need to keep in mind several of the overall concepts and themes laid out in Chapter 1 of this book. Free trade is seen by liberals, as well as most economists, as beneficial to all those participating in it.
eBook - ePubGlobal Trading System at the Crossroads
A Post-Seattle Perspective
- Dilip K. Das(Author)
- 2001(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
Cuts in the protection of merchandise trade were estimated to increase real incomes in developing countries by between US$55 billion and US$90 billion at 1992 prices, or between 1.2 percent and 2.0 percent of real income, despite the cautious offers made by many developing countries (Martin and Winters, 1995b). The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), overseeing three multilateral agreements, namely the Marrakesh Agreement, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), and having wider responsibilities like dispute settlement, strengthened the global trading system substantially. By tightening controls on tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) the Uruguay Round had increased the depth of trade regulations. It had extended regulation to subsidies and regional trading agreements (RTAs) and strengthened and refined the system of monitoring global trade.3.2 The final Uruguay Round agreement
The active participation of a good number of delegations from developing and industrial economies and the GATT secretariat finally led to the signing of the Final Act embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations.2 The Final Act also covers the results of the “market access negotiations” in which individual countries have given binding3 commitments to reduce or eliminate specific tariffs and NTBs to merchandise trade. These concessions are recorded in national schedules that form an integral part of the Final Act.It is easy to appreciate that the Uruguay Round agreement covered a large area of international trade policy. It will take us too far afield to discuss in detail the agreements reached in the Uruguay Round, which is hardly needed for this study. Complete details of the Final Act are available in the Legal Texts of the WTO, although in a skeletal form it comprises the following:- Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization.
eBook - PDFAid, Trade and Development
50 Years of Globalization
- Constantine Michalopoulos(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
The Uruguay Round and the Development Dimension of the WTO The WTO was established on January 1, 1995, to ‘provide the common institutional framework for the conduct of trade relations among its members in matters related to the Agreements and associated legal instruments’ (Article 2) signed at the end of the Uruguay Round. This 6 The Birth of the WTO 129 included a total of 20 agreements, including a revision of the GATT and several new agreements. Beyond the new agreements on intellectual property rights and trade-related investment measures, there were new agreements on subsidies and countervailing, safeguards, anti-dumping and standards, many of which had previously existed as ‘codes’ not required for all members. In addition, the dispute settlement mechanism was strengthened and a totally new agreement establishing a Trade Policy Review Mechanism was introduced (WTO 1995). Article III of the Marrakesh Agreement sets out the four main func- tions of the WTO as follows: • Facilitate the implementation, administration and operation and fur- ther the objectives of these trade agreements • Provide the forum for negotiations among members concerning mul- tilateral relations • Administer the Dispute Settlement Understanding • Administer the Trade Policy Review Mechanism The WTO agreements resulted in the strengthening and deepening of the multilateral trading system in ways that offered to developing coun- tries the possibility of greater integration. One of the issues that emerged in the late 1990s, however, was precisely whether this potential was being realized. Two aspects of the Uruguay Round Agreements were of great potential importance to developing countries. First, as noted earlier, the market access negotiations covered areas of interest not previously subject to GATT disciplines, such as agriculture and textiles and clothing.
eBook - PDFNegotiating Trade Liberalization at the WTO
Domestic Politics and Bargaining Dynamics
- Eugénia da Conceição-Heldt(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
5 Even though the GATT was signed in 1947 by 23 countries that committed to lowering 45,000 tariff rates, the different trade rounds were 38 Negotiating Trade Liberalization at the WTO dominated by the US and the European Community (EC). 6 Bergsten (1998) even describes the history of the post-war multilateral trading system in terms of the power relationship between these two actors. He also claims that the key motivation for the US to launch the different trade rounds was the crea- tion of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957, the first enlarge- ment of the EC in 1973 and the single European market. Uruguay Round negotiations 1986–94 Inclusion of agriculture in the negotiating agenda The Uruguay Round negotiations took place during a period of global reces- sion with high unemployment, high inflation, and a debt crisis in develop- ing countries. This situation led not only to a general decline in world trade, but also to an increase in the number of agricultural trade disputes brought before the GATT Council (Schott, 1994). Over time, agricultural trade policies had evolved in ways that differed from those applied to trade in manufactured goods, with a multitude of domestic and export subsidies and NTBs emerging, including variable levies, minimum import prices, voluntary export restraints, and quantitative import quotas. Domestic agriculture policies increasingly became a source of international friction mainly because production subsidies increased production and generated surpluses on world markets (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2005). In 1986, the US initiated a new round of trade talks with the aim of improving the access of US firms and producers to foreign markets and to reduce agricultural subsidies. Owing to the decline of world prices of agri- cultural products, US agricultural exports decreased and domestic support costs increased abruptly.
eBook - ePubAgricultural Policy Reform
Politics and Process in the EU and US in the 1990s
- Wayne Moyer, Tim Josling(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
Chapter 4Reform Frustrated: The Uruguay Round, 1986-19904.1 Introduction
If the depressed prices of the mid-1980s, along with escalating budget costs and sporadic trade conflicts generated activity at the international level, these stimulants were not enough to bring reform to the trade system nor to force reform on the reluctant political systems of the EC and the US. The two agricultural "superpowers" were destined to face a protracted struggle in the Uruguay Round before agreement could finally be reached on new trading arrangements. Their own domestic farm policies would prove to be formidable obstacles to trade reform. This chapter details the first four years of the Uruguay Round, which were dominated by conflict over the appropriate way to reform the GATT rules, and more fundamentally the degree of discipline that should be exercised at the international level over domestic farm policies. The experience of these four years emphasized the relative impotence of international structures to influence policy in the US and the EC, though mid-size and smaller countries were modifying their policies with some alacrity, as discussed in the previous chapter. But before discussing the negotiating positions of the US and the EC in the Uruguay Round it is useful to describe in brief the way in which each organized itself for the conduct of the negotiations.4.2 Negotiating Agricultural Trade in the GATT
The main GATT decision-making body (until the emergence of the WTO in 1995) was the GATT Council, made up of representatives from the governments of GATT members ("contracting parties" to the GATT, which strictly speaking was a set of articles provisionally applied rather than a full-fledged international organization that could have members). The contracting parties were represented in Geneva by ambassadors.43 These ambassadors served on GATT committees, notably the Council on Goods, which had overall responsibility for decisions. Such decisions were taken by contracting parties on a consensus basis.44
eBook - ePubWorld Trade after the Uruguay Round
Prospects and Policy Options for the Twenty-First Century
- Andras Inotai, Harald Sander(Authors)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
The agreement recognises that the number of regional trade blocs, in the form of customs unions and free trade areas, has greatly increased in recent years and notes the contribution they might make to the expansion of world trade. It reaffirms the general principle contained in article XXIV of the GATT that these regional trading agreements should be such that they cover all trade among the constituent territories because the contribution of the expansion of world trade is diminished if any major sector of trade is excluded. It stresses that the purpose of such arrangements should be to facilitate trade between the constituent territories and not to raise barriers to trade of other member countries with such territories. The agreement clarifies and reinforces the criteria and procedure for the review of new or enlarged regional trading arrangements and for evaluation of their effects on third parties.Trade Policy Review Mechanism
An early result of the Uruguay Round, achieved in December 1988, was an agreement on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism under which trade policies of member countries are already being examined in detail by GATT. The objective of the Mechanism is to approve the adherence by all members to rules, disciplines and commitments made under multilateral agreements by achieving greater transparency of national trade policies. The final agreement of December 1993 confirms the Mechanism and encourages greater transparency in national policy-making in trade.Achieving greater coherence in global economic policy-making
The Uruguay Round negotiators recognised the importance of the interrelationship between international monetary and financial conditions and international trade. A separate decision sets out proposals for achieving greater coherence in global economic policy-making and called on WTO to develop cooperation with the World Bank and IMF with this objective in view.The World Trade Organization (WTO)
The agreement creates the World Trade Organization (WTO) which will encompass the GATT, as modified by the Uruguay Round, and all agreements and arrangements concluded under the Round. The highest body of the organisation will be the Ministerial Conference, which will meet at least every two years, and under which the General Council will oversee the operations of WTO agreements and ministerial decisions on a regular basis. The General Council will also act in the capacity of the DSB and the Trade Policy Review Body. Like GATT, WTO will conduct decision-making on the basis of consensus. Where voting is necessary, decisions will be taken by a majority vote, except in cases where an interpretation of the WTO agreement is involved, where a two-thirds majority will be required.
eBook - ePub- INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND(Author)
- 1996(Publication Date)
- INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND(Publisher)
2 Results of the Uruguay Round
Jesus Seade
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T his chapter describes the principal results of the GATT’s eighth round of negotiations, launched in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in September 1986, and concluded in Marrakesh, Morocco, in April 1994- The World Trade Organization (WTO), the principal result of the Uruguay Round, enters into force on January 1, 1995 and replaces the GATT as the basis for trade relations among its members. After an overview of the GATT system and a brief summary of changes in the framework for trade relations contained in the Uruguay Round agreements, the chapter concludes with a description of the steps a country must take to become a WTO member.The GATT System
The GATT was agreed on October 30, 1947 and entered into force on January 1, 1948 for 23 Contracting Parties. By December 1994, membership in the GATT had risen to 127 Contracting Parties. GATT Contracting Parties that are also members of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development include Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.GATT 1947
The GATT is a legal framework for the conduct of trade relations among its members. Main elements include the most-favored-nation (MFN) principle, whereby each member is required to treat products imported from different trading partners on the same basis (Article I). Other central requirements include a prohibition on quantitative restrictions (Article XI), and the “national” treatment of imported products (Article III), so that once imported products are inside the border, they face the same conditions of competition as domestically produced products. Exceptions to these obligations may be invoked under certain conditions, including for the purpose of establishing free trade areas or customs unions, to protect the balance of payments, for health and safety reasons, or for national security.The original legal framework has been clarified and extended throughout the GATT’s history. In 1966, Part IV on “Trade and Development” was added to the General Agreement. Its provisions include the statement that industrial countries do not expect reciprocity in trade negotiations with developing countries. Part IV also provides for joint action by Contracting Parties to establish international arrangements for primary products to “stabilize and improve conditions of world markets in these products including measures designed to attain stable, equitable and remunerative prices for exports of such products.” In 1979, the Enabling Clause was agreed to provide a permanent legal cover for tariff preferences granted by industrial countries on imports from developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), and special provisions for preferential trade arrangements concluded among developing countries.1
eBook - ePubInternational Trade under President Reagan
US Trade Policy in the 1980s
- Giuseppe La Barca(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
The New GATT Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. Legal and Economic Problems (Deventer: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1989), 263.41 Jimmye S. Hillman, “The US Perspective” in K.A. Ingersent et al. (eds), Agriculture in the Uruguay Round (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1994), 37.42 Ibid., 33.43 Ernest H. Preeg, Traders in a Brave New World. The Uruguay Round and the Future of the International Trade System (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 97.44 Gary Clyde Hufbauer et al., Trading for Growth, 52.45 Twenty-ninth ARPTAP, 1988, 26.46 Rod Tyers, “The Cairns Group Perspective”, in K.A. Ingersent et al. (eds), Agriculture in the Uruguay Round, 88–109. London: Palgrave Macmillan.47 U.R., Negotiating Group on Agriculture, Summary of Main Points Raised at the Third Meeting of the Negotiating Group on Agriculture, 6–7 July 1987, Note by the Secretariat. MTN.GNG/NG5/W/18, October 8, 1987.48 Communication from the Commission to the Council, The Negotiation on Agriculture within the Uruguay Round. SEC (87) 1520 def—8 October 1987; U.R., Negotiating Group on Agriculture, European Communities Proposal for Multilateral Trade Negotiations on Agriculture. MTN.GNG/NG5/W/20, July 26, 1987; also K.A. Ingersent et al., “The EC Perspective”, in K.A. Ingersent et al. (eds), Agriculture in the Uruguay Round, 61 et seq.49 GATT, Negotiating Group on Agriculture, An Approach for a Concerted Reduction in the Long Term, Submitted by the European Community. MTN.GNG/NG5/W/82, October 21, 1988.50 U.R., Negotiating Group on Agriculture, A Framework for Agricultural Reform Submitted by the United States. MTN.GNG/NG5/W783, November 9, 1988.51 Bull.EC, 11-1988, point 2.2.2.52 Twenty-ninth ARPTAP, 1988, 25.53 U.R., Trade Negotiations Committee Meeting at Ministerial Level Montreal December 1988. MTN.TNC/7(MIN), December 9, 1988.54 A detailed and colorful description of the events in Montreal is provided by Alan Oxley, The Challenge, 166 et seq.55 See John E. Ray, “The OECD Consensus on Export Credits”, The World Economy
eBook - PDFDomestic Politics and International Relations in US-Japan Trade Policymaking
The GATT Uruguay Round Agriculture Negotiations
- C. Meyerson(Author)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
68 Japan’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, Hajime Tamura, regretted that the Mid-Term Review Agreement had not been finalized at the meeting. However, Tamura did recognize that, in the areas of services, tropical products, dispute resolution, and the strengthening of the GATT, very significant agreements had been obtained. 69 Between December 1988 and April 1989, the United States, the EC, Japan and other countries resolved their remaining differences con- cerning the Uruguay Round Mid-Term Review Agreement. 70 The nego- tiations concerning the Mid-Term Review Agreement were completed during the early April 1989 Trade Negotiations Committee meeting, US–Japan Uruguay Round Agriculture Negotiations 111 where agreement was reached concerning previously disputed provi- sions addressing agriculture, textiles and clothing, safeguards and trade- related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). The sections concerning agriculture in the Uruguay Round Mid- Term Agreement stated that the Ministers agreed that the long-term objective was ‘to provide for substantial progressive reductions in agri- cultural support and protection sustained over an agreed period of time, resulting in correcting and preventing restrictions and distor- tions in world agricultural markets’. The Agreement noted that, in realizing this long-term objective, ‘the strengthened and more oper- ationally effective GATT rules and disciplines, which would be equally applicable to all contracting parties, and the commitments to be nego- tiated, should encompass all measures affecting directly or indirectly import access and export competition’.
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