WTO Restraints on Regionalism

The regionalism rules in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”) were not expected to have much significance. The General Agreement was negotiated in 1947 at a time when open trade was seen as a way of linking economies together and making nations less likely to go to war with each other. Only twenty-three countries were party to the original negotiations and it was not anticipated that there would be many smaller regional agreements. (suite dans le document joint)