Economics - Wto Notes
World Trade Organization
Background Information
Established in 1995 after the Uruguay Round of global trade talks, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a powerful global commerce agency that transformed and expanded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) into an enforceable global commerce code.
Stated Aim
To promote free trade and stimulate economic growth. The actions, method, and fundamentalism, of the World Trade Organization evokes strong antipathies. Among other things, the WTO is accused of widening the sociological gap between rich and poor it claims to be fixing.
This is bias because:
Rich countries are able to maintain high import duties and quotas in certain products, blocking imports from developing countries (e.g. clothing);
The increase in non-tariff barriers such as anti-dumping measures allowed against developing countries;
The maintenance of high protection of agriculture in developed countries while developing ones are pressed to open their markets;
Many developing countries do not have the capacity to follow the negotiations and participate actively in the Uruguay Round
The TRIPs agreement which limits developing countries from utilizing some technology that originates from abroad in their local systems (including medicines and agricultural products).
Critics contend that small countries in the WTO wield little influence, and despite the WTO aim of helping the developing countries, the politicians representing the most influential nations in the WTO (and within those countries or between them, influential private business interests) focus on the commercial interests of profit-making companies rather than the interests of all
The WTO does not manage the global economy impartially, but in its operation has a systematic bias toward rich countries and multinational corporations, harming smaller countries which have less negotiation power.
Developing countries have not benefited from the WTO Agreements of
Background Information
Established in 1995 after the Uruguay Round of global trade talks, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a powerful global commerce agency that transformed and expanded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) into an enforceable global commerce code.
Stated Aim
To promote free trade and stimulate economic growth. The actions, method, and fundamentalism, of the World Trade Organization evokes strong antipathies. Among other things, the WTO is accused of widening the sociological gap between rich and poor it claims to be fixing.
This is bias because:
Rich countries are able to maintain high import duties and quotas in certain products, blocking imports from developing countries (e.g. clothing);
The increase in non-tariff barriers such as anti-dumping measures allowed against developing countries;
The maintenance of high protection of agriculture in developed countries while developing ones are pressed to open their markets;
Many developing countries do not have the capacity to follow the negotiations and participate actively in the Uruguay Round
The TRIPs agreement which limits developing countries from utilizing some technology that originates from abroad in their local systems (including medicines and agricultural products).
Critics contend that small countries in the WTO wield little influence, and despite the WTO aim of helping the developing countries, the politicians representing the most influential nations in the WTO (and within those countries or between them, influential private business interests) focus on the commercial interests of profit-making companies rather than the interests of all
The WTO does not manage the global economy impartially, but in its operation has a systematic bias toward rich countries and multinational corporations, harming smaller countries which have less negotiation power.
Developing countries have not benefited from the WTO Agreements of