The Regulation of International Trade

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter examines the various economic rationales that underlie international trade agreements and analyses how the principal rules and design features of such agreements help achieve their key objectives. Our contribution is twofold. First, we provide an intuitive discussion of the economics of international trade agreements in general and the GATT 1947/WTO Agreement in particular. Second, we examine the economic underpinnings of some of the key rules of the international trading system, including the most-favored-nation and the national-treatment obligations, the principle of reciprocity, as well as various exceptions to non-discrimination found in the GATT 1947/WTO system, and address some important regulatory developments since the early GATT years.