What Prospects for the World Trading System?

Abstract

New developments and dramatic changes are under way in the world trading system. This paper aims to take stock of the latest and most relevant developments and highlight the prospects for global trade governance. The focus is on three major issues, i.e. : (1) the outcome of the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2013 in Bali (Indonesia) and especially its significance for enhancing the multilateral trading system; (2) the accelerated pace and scale of negotiations on regional trade agreements (RTAs) and their wider impact; and (3) the positive results of continued unilateral trade liberalization efforts, in contrast with the pervasiveness of crisis-related protectionist measures. The paper concludes that, despite improved prospects for multilateral trade liberalization following the last WTO Ministerial Conference, the world trading system is becoming more fragmented and less coherent, and also more uncertain, being increasingly driven by RTAs and a variable geometry approach to WTO trade agreements.

Keywords

• the world trading system
• the World Trade Organization (WTO)
• the Doha Round
• trade policy
• multilateral trade agreements
• regional trade agreements (RTAs)
• trade liberalization
• trade protectionism