Abstract / Description of output
This chapter examines the multilateral legal framework governing international trade. It seeks to provide the reader with an introduction to the content of the law, its historical context, and its dynamics of evolution over time. It begins with an account of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947, from its negotiation immediately after WW2 to its replacement by the World Trade Organization in the 1990s. Following Ruggie, the chapter argues that the multilateral trade regime during this time had the character of ‘embedded liberalism’, and that it helped to provide an open and stable international economic order suited to the needs of the post-war welfare state. In the following sections, the chapter turns to the World Trade Organization, which took the place of the GATT 1947 from 1995 onwards. It provides an overview of the content of the WTO agreements on goods, services and intellectual property, as well as a illustrative selection of key developments in the extensive jurisprudence which has developed on these agreements since then. Both are designed to provide interested readers with entry points for further study. It is suggested that the transformation of the GATT into the WTO reflected, in part, a similar transformation that was taking place at the level of the state, from the post-war welfare state to the late 20th century regulatory state. The chapter concludes by turning to recent developments. It suggests that we are current in a further period of profound transformation, and that the multilateral trading system is currently facing some of the most difficult challenges it has ever encountered.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | International Law |
Editors | Malcolm Evans |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Chapter | 24 |
Pages | 733-767 |
Number of pages | 35 |
Edition | 6th |
ISBN (Print) | 9780192848642 |
Publication status | Published - 16 May 2024 |