IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/brd/wpaper/08.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The International Trading System and Its Future

Author

Listed:
  • Rachel McCulloch

    (Department of Economics, Brandeis University)

Abstract

This chapter describes the evolution and structure of the international trading system, focusing on the tension between the fundamental GATT/WTO principle of most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment and the proliferation of discriminatory trading arrangements, including regional agreements as well as new versions of special and differential treatment of low-income countries. It also discusses the increasing pressure to use the enforcement power of the GATT/WTO system to achieve member compliance with social norms in the areas of labor and environment. The chapter concludes by considering some significant challenges that currently face the international trading system and possible directions of the system’s evolution in response to these challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel McCulloch, 2010. "The International Trading System and Its Future," Working Papers 08, Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:brd:wpaper:08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.brandeis.edu/economics/RePEc/brd/doc/Brandeis_WP08.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2010
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Masahiro Kawai & Peter A. Petri & Elif Sisli Ciamarra, 2010. "Asia in Global Governance: A Case for Decentralized Institutions," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Jong-Wha Lee & Peter A. Petri & Giovanni Capanelli (ed.), Asian Regionalism in the World Economy, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Richard E. Baldwin, 2011. "Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocks on the Path to Global Free Trade," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Steve Charnovitz & Jisun Kim, 2009. "Global Warming and the World Trading System," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4280, March.
    4. Chad Bown & Rachel McCulloch, 2010. "Developing countries, dispute settlement, and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 33-63.
    5. Hoekman, Bernard & Martin, Will & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2010. "Conclude Doha: it matters!," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 505-530, July.
    6. Anne Krueger, 2007. "An enduring need: multilateralism in the twenty-first century," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 23(3), pages 335-346, Autumn.
    7. Richard E. Baldwin, 2006. "Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocs on the Path to Global Free Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1451-1518, November.
    8. Antoni Estevadeordal & Caroline Freund & Emanuel Ornelas, 2008. "Does Regionalism Affect Trade Liberalization Toward Nonmembers?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1531-1575.
    9. Meredith A. Crowley, 2003. "An introduction to the WTO and GATT," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 27(Q IV), pages 42-57.
    10. Robert Z. Lawrence, 2008. "International Organisations: The Challenge of Aligning Mission, Means and Legitimacy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(11), pages 1455-1470, November.
    11. Bown, Chad P. & McCulloch, Rachel, 2009. "U.S.-Japan and U.S.-China trade conflict: Export growth, reciprocity, and the international trading system," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 669-687, November.
    12. Will Martin & Patrick Messerlin, 2007. "Why is it so difficult? Trade liberalization under the Doha Agenda," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 23(3), pages 347-366, Autumn.
    13. Hoekman, Bernard M. & Kostecki, Michel M., 2009. "The Political Economy of the World Trading System," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 3, number 9780199553778, Decembrie.
    14. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Jeffrey J. Schott & Woan Foong Wong, 2010. "Figuring Out the Doha Round," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number pa91, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Masahiro Kawai & Peter A. Petri, 2010. "Asia’s Role in the Global Economic Architecture," Governance Working Papers 22728, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    2. Patrick Messerlin, 2010. "Climate change and trade policy: From mutual destruction to mutual support," Working Papers hal-00972994, HAL.
    3. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h2q83h42k is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Low, Patrick, 2014. "Preferentialism in Trade Relations: Challenges for the World Trade Organization," ADBI Working Papers 478, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    5. Bown,Chad P. & Crowley,Meredith A & Bown,Chad P. & Crowley,Meredith A, 2016. "The empirical landscape of trade policy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7620, The World Bank.
    6. Masahiro Kawai & Peter A. Petri & Elif Sisli Ciamarra, 2010. "Asia in Global Governance: A Case for Decentralized Institutions," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Jong-Wha Lee & Peter A. Petri & Giovanni Capanelli (ed.), Asian Regionalism in the World Economy, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Peter A. Petri, 2010. "Beyond the Golden Era: Asia Pacific Cooperation after the Global Financial Crisis," Working Papers 11, Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School.
    8. Kawai, Masahiro & Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2011. "Asian FTAs: Trends, prospects and challenges," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-22, February.
    9. MILE 02, Anirudh Shingal & Roy, Martin & Sauvé, Pierre, 2014. "Are Asian services markets optimal regulatory convergence areas?," Papers 719, World Trade Institute.
    10. Masahiro Kawai & Peter A. Petri, 2010. "Asia’s Role in the Global Financial Architecture," Working Papers id:2958, eSocialSciences.
    11. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/faqom67ai2qsojk9j15c04u8j is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Hoekman, Bernard, 2011. "The WTO and the Doha Round: Walking on Two Legs," World Bank - Economic Premise, The World Bank, issue 68, pages 1-6, October.
    13. Amelia U. Santos‐Paulino & Alisa DiCaprio & Maria V. Sokolova, 2019. "The development trinity: How regional integration impacts growth, inequality and poverty," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(7), pages 1961-1993, July.
    14. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h2q83h42k is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Crafts, Nicholas, 2013. "Long-Term Growth in Europe: What Difference does the Crisis Make?," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 224, pages 14-28, May.
    16. Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2014. "Race-to-the-bottom Tariff Cutting," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 444-458, August.
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/faqom67ai2qsojk9j15c04u8j is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Pedro Esteban Moncarz & Manuel Flores & Sebastián Villano & Marcel Vaillant, 2023. "Intra‐ and extra‐regional trade costs: A comparative approach to Latin‐American performance," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 2248-2284, August.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h2q83h42k is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h2q83h42k is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2013. "Regional Trade Agreements and Enterprises in Southeast Asia," Trade Working Papers 23718, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    22. Olivier Cadot & Lili Yan Ing, 2016. "How Restrictive Are ASEAN's Rules of Origin?," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 115-134, Fall.
    23. Onder, Harun, 2012. "Trade and Climate Change: An Analytical Review of Key Issues," World Bank - Economic Premise, The World Bank, issue 86, pages 1-8, August.
    24. de Melo, Jaime & Vijil, Mariana, 2014. "Barriers to Trade in Environmental Goods and Environmental Services: How Important Are They? How Much Progress at Reducing Them?," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 172425, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    25. Zakaria Sorgho, 2016. "RTAs' Proliferation and Trade-diversion Effects: Evidence of the ‘Spaghetti Bowl’ Phenomenon," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 285-300, February.
    26. Nathalie Jorzik & Frank Mueller‐Langer, 2020. "Multilateral stability and efficiency of trade agreements: A network formation approach," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 355-370, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:brd:wpaper:08. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Andrea Luna (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gsbraus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.