Developing Countries Should Reject American-Style Protectionism
The fragmentation of the world economy poses an existential threat to the World Trade Organization and the multilateral system that has fueled the global economy’s growth for the past half-century. Paradoxically, the threat comes from the United States, historically the world’s leading proponent of trade liberalization.
NEW DELHI – For nearly 50 years after the end of World War II, the United States led the effort to liberalize global trade through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In 1994, the US rallied 123 countries to sign a multilateral treaty establishing the World Trade Organization, which subsumed GATT while expanding its scope to cover services trade and intellectual property.