Global Trade and Finance

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The World Trade Organization

• Global Trade and Finance
• Prof. Bryson, Marriott School

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What Is the WTO?

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only
  global international organization dealing with
  the rules of trade between nations.
• WTO agreements are negotiated and signed by the
  trading nations and ratified in their
  parliaments.
• The goal is to help producers of goods and
  services, exporters, and importers conduct and
  grow their business.

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The Goal

• To improve the welfare of the peoples of the
  member countries.

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Past, Present, Future
The WTO came into being in 1995. The WTO is the
successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT), established in the wake of the
Second World War.
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The Past 50 Years Exceptional Growth in World
Trade

• Merchandise exports grew on average 6 annually
• Total trade in 1997 was 14 times the level of
  1950
• In 1997, 40 governments concluded negotiations
  for tariff free trade.

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The Organization Chart
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The Organization
Committees
Committees
Committees on Trade and Environment Trade and
Development
Textiles Monitoring Body
Working parties on
Working parties on Accessions
Working groups
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The WTO must teach the world the benefits of trade

• We have seen what Ricardo had to say about
  comparative advantage, and the strong consensus
  among those who seriously consider trade issues.
• Trade provides nearly 100 of an economys jobs.
  Global trade provides a large and growing share
  of these jobs.
• .

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Major WTO Functions

• Administering WTO trade agreements
• Forum for trade negotiations

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Major WTO Functions

• Handling trade disputes
• Monitoring national trade policies

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Major WTO Functions

• Technical assistance and training for developing
  countries
• Cooperation with other international
  organizations 

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The Quad

• Some of the most difficult negotiations have
  needed an initial breakthrough in talks among the
  four largest members

• Canada  European union  Japan  United States
  

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How to Join the WTO the Accession Process

• First, tell us about yourself.
• Second, work out with us individually what you
  have to offer. (Country to country negotiations
  bilaterally.)
• Third, lets draft membership terms.
• Finally, the decision.

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Criticisms of the WTO

• The WTO undermines state sovereignty
• It undermines representative democracy
• Member nations are prevented from protecting the
  environment
• Members are unable to uphold laws guaranteeing
  workers rights
• The WTO is controlled by the larger nations
• The WTO represents the interests of large
  corporations and wealthy citizens

http//www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/10mis
_e/10m00_e.htm
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• Some protesters have arguments fully worthy of
  consideration. They deserve a better venue for
  hearing than the streets.
• Nihilistic anarchists usually capture the legal
  protest, along with
• lugubrious labor Luddites
• trade terrorists, and
• the clueless

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The Doha, Qatar Initiatives

• A new trade round was launched November, 2001
• For the first time, developing countries demanded
  capacity-building and technical assistance to
  take part meaningfully.

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The Doha, Qatar Initiatives

• The Pledging Conference was convened in
  accordance with the December 2001 decision of the
  WTO General Council.
• In that decision, the General Council set a
  target for core funding of CHF 15 million plus
  support in kind, including training courses for
  trade officials.