Review by Choice Review
International trade law is a towering achievement of the global economic architecture that evolved after World War II. Economic systems cannot survive without rules that participants agree are in the general interest and convey tangible benefits of adherence--as well as workable adjudication mechanisms governing the inevitable disputes that arise. This notion formed the core of the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT), with non-discrimination (most favored nation treatment) and reciprocity as the basis of trading rules that evolved over multiple rounds of negotiations over the decades and resolution of many trade disputes. But even as tariffs were successfully reduced, non-tariff barriers became more important and were much more difficult to liberalize. Meanwhile, regional trade agreements in Europe, North America, and elsewhere became more attractive and feasible vehicles for trade liberalization among members, affecting the importance of the GATT successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO), including the abortive Doha Round of negotiations that was ultimately driven into the sand. This book is a definitive study of the GATT and will be invaluable for students of international trade policy, who can look forward to the author's volume 2, on the WTO, which promises to be equally authoritative. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. --Ingo Walter, New York University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
