The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing: Safeguard Actions from 1995 to 2001

The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing is one of the most significant outcomes of the Uruguay Round. While the ATC promises to deliver a significant amount of liberalization during the 1995 to 2004 transition period, trade policy analysts and developing country representatives have expressed concern about the role of ATC Article 6 safeguard provisions. This paper reviews the safeguard activity under the ATC during the 1995 to 2001 period. In earlier years, there is evidence of abuse of the mechanism by the United States, but in later years, the primary use of ATC safeguards has been by Latin American countries. Overall, the ATC safeguard provisions have proved to be effective both in limiting most safeguard abuses and in carving out a new textiles and clothing regime within the WTO. Copyright Oxford University Press 2002, Oxford University Press.