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The safeguards mess: a critique of WTO jurisprudence

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Author Info
SYKES, ALAN O.
Abstract

The creation of the WTO revived the use of safeguard measures to protect troubled industries against surges in import competition. Many of these measures have now been challenged in the WTO dispute resolution process, and in each case the process has found the challenged measure to be a violation of WTO law. This paper examines the WTO rules on safeguards from an economic perspective. Among other things, it argues that the textual preconditions for the use of safeguards in the treaty text are incoherent, and that the Appellate Body has compounded the problem through a series of dubious and unhelpful rulings. The result is a situation in which nations cannot use safeguards without facing a near certainty that they will be found invalid. Those who believe that safeguard measures are wasteful protectionism may welcome these developments, but it is by no means clear that the trading system will benefit in the long run.

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File URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1474745604001478
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Cambridge University Press in its journal World Trade Review.

Volume (Year): 2 (2003)
Issue (Month): 03 (November)
Pages: 261-295
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:cup:wotrrv:v:2:y:2003:i:03:p:261-295_00

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  1. Bown, Chad P., 2005. "Trade remedies and World Trade Organization dispute settlement : Why are so few challenged?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3540, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Bown, Chad P. & Bernard M., Hoekman, 2007. "Developing countries and enforcement of trade agreements : why dispute settlement is not enough," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4450, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Tadashi Ito, 2007. "NAFTA and productivity convergence between Mexico and the US," HEI Working Papers 26-2007, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies, revised 09 Jun 2009. [Downloadable!]
  4. Horn, Henrik & Mavroidis, Petros C., 2006. "A Survey of the Literature on the WTO Dispute Settlement System," Working Paper Series 684, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Simon Schropp, 2007. "Revisiting the "Compliance-vs.-Rebalancing" Debate in WTO Scholarship a Unified Research Agenda," HEI Working Papers 29-2007, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies, revised Dec 2007. [Downloadable!]
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