Evaluation of the WTO

WTO

Set up as GATT (General Agreement on Trade Tariffs)
Promotes free trade and multilateral negotiation.
Every state must reduce trade barriers to those of their "best" trading partner.
One country = one vote.
Started by trying to reduce tariffs on manufactured goods.

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Promotes trade/ free trade.
Has increased global wealth, e.g. during Uruguay round the world became $100m richer.
Has made China more open.
Allowed LEDCs to play a more assertive role (esp. in Doha round).
Succeeded in keeping protectionism low during the recession.
Has solved trade disputes, e.g. US-EU Steel and GM foods trade wars.
Arguably more powerful that the UN

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Huge anti globalisation protests causing Seattle round to be abandoned.
LEDCs unfairly treated.
Only rich states benefit.
US, Germany, France, Japan and UK get 100 times more trade than their poor counterparts.
Khor argues that WTO does not run economy impartially, with a "systematic bias" towards EDCs and MNCs.
Inefficient decision-making.
EDCs have kept the most agricultural subsidies.
Bilateral trade agreements continue, e.g. between India and Canada

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Increase in member countries.
Instigated political change in countries seeking membership, for example China had to increase transparency.
Unlike GATT, WTO can intervene in issues of services and intellectual property (first discussed in Uruguay round).
Marrakech Agreement gave WTO powers of dispute settlement.
Efficient system of mediation, for example ruling against China in a dispute over American media being routed through state-owned companies.

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Unpopular: violent anti-globalisation protests in Seattle.
Illegitimacy of the WTO's and its Capitalist foundations?
Failure of the Doha round due to 1) More assertive LEDCs (walking out of Cancun meeting) and 2) US and EU refusing to compromise with LEDCs over subsidies.
1998 proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment would have allowed corporations to remove laws that interfere with their profit – widely criticised.
Regional Free Trade areas, e.g. NAFTA, ASEAN, Mercosur have bypassed multi-lateral system of WTO.
Bilateral trade between Canada and India is expected to increase up to 3 times in next 5 years.
Global recession has made countries less willing to agree.

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