国际贸易理论与实务Ch.10课件GATT andWTO.ppt

  §1 GATT 1. The origination of the GATT 2. The GATTs activities: eight trade negotiation “Rounds” 3. The Uruguay Round of trade negotiations 4. Two GATTs 5. WTO vs. GATT: main differences The origination of the GATT The original intention was to create a third institution to handle the trade side of international economic cooperation, joining the two “Bretton institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Over 50 countries participated in negotiations to create an International Trade Organization (ITO) as a specialized agency of the United Nations. Meanwhile, a deal on 45,000 tariff concessions was signed by 23 countries on 30 October 1947. The tariff concessions came into effect by 30 June 1948 through a “Protocol of Provisional Application”. So the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was born, with 23 founding members (officially “contracting parties”). The ITO Charter was finally agreed in Havana in March 1948, but ratification in some national legislatures proved impossible. The most serious opposition was in the US Congress, even though the US government had been one of the driving forces. In 1950, the United States government announced that it would not seek Congressional ratification of the Havana Charter, and the ITO was effectively dead. So, the GATT became the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1948 until the WTO was established in 1995. 2. The GATTs activities: eight trade negotiation “Rounds” The first five rounds of trade negotiations (1947-1961) Some multilateral tariff reductions were achieved. (2) The Kennedy Round of trade negotiations (1964-67) The United States led the way into a new round of negotiations from 1964 to 1967. Tariffs on manufactured products were reduced by an average of 35 percent. Little progress was achieved in reducing barriers on agricultural products. Little was