Trade remedies in regional trade arrangements : the practice, the law and beyond

Abstract

Against the background of economic globalization, today‟s world economy shows a number of characteristics, among which the continued proliferation of regionalism and the increasing use of trade remedies are two of the most significant ones. Importantly, within the WTO multilateral trading system, which is essentially established on the non-discrimination principle, regional trade agreements (RTAs) are allowed on condition that some requirements are satisfied in accord with GATT Article XXIV and the 1994 Understanding. However, the meanings of certain legal requirements are by no means clear and amenable to different interpretations. One example is that it is not clear with regard to the application of trade remedy measures in the RTA context, and in practice the choices have virtually been left to the individual WTO members. As a result, many and varied approaches are found in the hundreds of RTAs currently in force. This dissertation research provides a comprehensive and in-depth study of the complicated landscape of using trade remedies in RTAs: it intensively studies the contents of the trade remedy provisions in some 120 selected RTAs, provides a classification and abstract of the different types of these provisions, analyzes and evaluates the roles, effects, functioning, and other implications of those RTA-specific trade remedy provisions. In addition, it also conducts a legality examination of those innovative approaches in terms of their consistency with the relevant GATT/WTO provisions. Based on these studies, the desirable approaches for the use of trade remedies in the RTAs context, and the proposals for future reform to address the existing problems in light of promoting free and fair international trade are further discussed.