Following the 2020 United States presidential election, economists have high hopes for the president-elect, Mr. Joseph Biden, and for the next US administration. The hopes are especially for the potential changes in the global trade architecture.There are quite a few outstanding issues in the...

On March 1, 2021, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister and former vice-president of the World Bank, started her first day in office at the WTO as Director-General. There are a myriad of worries and challenges ahead of her. Notwithstanding its long-term importance, the...

To augment the global production and distribution of Covid-19 medical products such as vaccines, drugs and other therapeutics, countries are negotiating for temporarily waiving certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement at the WTO. Depending on the conditions that would govern the waiver,...

How did a country join the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade(“GATT”)? How does a country become a member of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”)?GATT Articles XXXII-XXXIII and WTO Agreement Articles XI-XII provide the answers. To examine these provisions in the context of China’s...

This paper provides a genealogy of consensus decision-making and democratic discourse in the multilateral trade regime. It argues that the contemporary link between the World Trade Organisation’s consensus procedure and ideas of ‘international democracy’ has its roots in a struggle that...

The most sanctified obligation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the promotion and facilitation of international trade and liberalisation of the world economy. Although WTO members are committed to the WTO principle of free flow of goods and services among its members, the WTO permits its...

Between December 1994 and March 1999, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Russia and Brazil experienced major financial crises which were associated with massive recessions and extreme movements of exchange rates. Similar crises have threatened Turkey and Argentina (2000 and 2001) and...

East Asian countries have become much more active in utilizing the WTO dispute settlement system to assert their legal rights. The dispute settlement experience so far for these countries has shown strong tendency of domestic governments to defend economic interest of major industries. Their...

Established in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was the culmination of half a century of global trade liberalization achieved under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Subsequent agreements to achieve further liberalization — and to establish rules for...