View source for General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

{{Short description|1947–95 multilateral trade agreement; predecessor to WTO}}
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{{Redirect|GATT}}
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{{Infobox treaty
| name = General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
| long_name = 
| image = 
| image_width = 
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| caption = 
| type = Multilateral treaty
| context = СТпМ
| date_drafted = 
| date_signed = {{Start date|df=yes|1947|10|30}}<ref name=database/>
| location_signed = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
| date_sealed = 
| date_effective = 
| condition_effective = ratification by territories representing 85% of trade of signatories
| date_expiration = 
| date_expiry = 
| provisional_application = {{dts|1 January 1948}}<ref name=database>{{cite web|url=https://verdragenbank.overheid.nl/en/Treaty/Details/006960.html|work=Government of the Netherlands|access-date=30 December 2020|title=General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Treaty data|archive-date=2 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302065708/https://verdragenbank.overheid.nl/en/Treaty/Details/006960.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| mediators = 
| negotiators = 
| original_signatories = 
| signatories = 
| parties = 
| ratifiers = 
| depositor = Executive Secretary to the Contracting Parties
| depositories = 
| citations = 
| languages = English and French
| wikisource = 
| wikisource1 = 
| footnotes = 
}}

The '''General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade''' ('''GATT''') is a [[treaty|legal agreement]] between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote [[international trade]] by reducing or eliminating [[trade barrier]]s such as [[tariffs]] or [[import quota|quotas]]. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis".

The GATT was first discussed during the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the [[International Trade Organization]] (ITO). It was signed by 23 nations<ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Unger|url=https://www.hinrichfoundation.com/research/tradevistas/wto/gatt-rounds/|title=GATT rounds: Who, what, when|website=Hinrich Foundation|date=7 December 2017|accessdate=4 August 2022|archive-date=5 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805023405/https://www.hinrichfoundation.com/research/tradevistas/wto/gatt-rounds/|url-status=live}}</ref> in [[Geneva]] on 30 October 1947, and was applied on a provisional basis 1 January 1948.<ref name=database/> It remained in effect until 1 January 1995, when the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) was established after agreement by 123 nations in [[Marrakesh]] on 15 April 1994, as part of the [[Uruguay Round]] Agreements. The WTO is the successor to the GATT, and the original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994.<ref name=wtolt>{{cite web |publisher=World Trade Organization |url=http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/legal_e.htm#GATT94 |title=WTO legal texts: The Uruguay Round agreements |access-date=22 December 2009 |archive-date=14 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051214090600/http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/legal_e.htm#GATT94 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=wtour>{{cite web |url=http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/06-gatt_e.htm |title=Uruguay Round – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 |publisher=World Trade Organization |access-date=22 December 2009 |archive-date=26 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626001551/https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/06-gatt_e.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Nations that were not party in 1995 to the GATT need to meet the minimum conditions spelled out in specific documents before they can accede; in September 2019, the list contained 36 nations.<ref name=wtoacc>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/completeacc_e.htm |title=Acc Protocols of accession for new members since 1995, including commitments in goods and services |publisher=World Trade Organization |access-date=5 September 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721003239/https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/completeacc_e.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The GATT, and its successor the WTO, have succeeded in reducing tariffs. The average tariff levels for the major GATT participants were about 22% in 1947, but were 5% after the Uruguay Round in 1999.<ref name=":0" /> Experts attribute part of these tariff changes to GATT and the WTO.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tomz|first1=Michael|last2=Goldstein|first2=Judith L|last3=Rivers|first3=Douglas|date=May 2007|title=Do We Really Know That the WTO Increases Trade? Comment|journal=[[American Economic Review]]|publisher=[[American Economic Association]]|location=Nashville, Tennessee|language=en|volume=97|issue=5|pages=2005–2018|doi=10.1257/aer.97.5.2005|issn=0002-8282 |author-link2=Judith Goldstein (political scientist)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Goldstein|first1=Judith L.|last2=Rivers|first2=Douglas|last3=Tomz|first3=Michael|title=Institutions in International Relations: Understanding the Effects of the GATT and the WTO on World Trade|journal=[[International Organization]]|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|volume=61|issue=1|date=January 2007|pages=37–67|doi=10.1017/S0020818307070014|issn=1531-5088|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117607482355263550|title=GATT Turns 60|last=Irwin|first=Douglas A.|date=9 April 2007|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=28 October 2017|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106004947/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117607482355263550|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a multi-national trade treaty. It has been updated in a series of global trade negotiations consisting of nine ''rounds'' between 1947 and 1995. The "GATT's major intellectual architects" were the GATT lawyer [[Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann]], Jan Tumlir, an economics professor at the [[Geneva Graduate Institute]], and the U.S. law professor [[John Jackson (law professor)|John Jackson]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=WTO {{!}} Global Review 2017 |url=https://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/public_forum17_e/pf17_bios_e.htm?bio=Ernst_Ulrich_Petersmann |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.wto.org}}</ref> The GATT's role in international trade was largely succeeded in 1995 by the [[World Trade Organization]].

During the 1940s, the United States sought to establish a set of post-war multilateral institutions, one of which would be devoted to the reconstruction of world trade.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |title=The Negotiation of the GATT |year=2008 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/genesis-of-the-gatt/negotiation-of-the-gatt/FD370EA645D0D4AF1DE37CFA1B374E66 |journal=The Genesis of the GATT |series=The American Law Institute Reporters Studies on WTO Law |pages=98–175 |editor-last=Sykes |editor-first=Alan O. |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, England |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511817953.006 |isbn=978-0-521-51561-0 |editor2-last=Irwin |editor2-first=Douglas A. |editor3-last=Mavroidis |editor3-first=Petros C. |access-date=10 May 2022 |archive-date=5 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605121656/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/genesis-of-the-gatt/negotiation-of-the-gatt/FD370EA645D0D4AF1DE37CFA1B374E66 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1945 and 1946, the U.S. took concrete steps to bring about such an organisation, proposing a conference to negotiate a charter for a trade organisation.<ref name=":2" /> The GATT was first conceived at the 1947 [[International Trade Organization#Havana Charter|United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment]] (UNCTE), at which the [[International Trade Organization]] (ITO) was one of the ideas proposed. It was hoped that the ITO would be run alongside the [[World Bank]] and the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF). More than 50 nations negotiated ITO and organising its founding charter, but after the withdrawal of the United States these negotiations collapsed.<ref name=ce/>

{{GATT and WTO trade rounds}}

===Initial round===
Preparatory sessions were held simultaneously at the UNCTE regarding the GATT. After several of these sessions, 23 nations signed the GATT on 30 October 1947 in Geneva, Switzerland. It came into force on 1 January 1948.<ref name="bi">{{cite web |title=The WTO and GATT: A Principled History |url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/selfenforcingtrade_chapter.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304040334/https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/selfenforcingtrade_chapter.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-04 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Brookings Institution]]}}</ref><ref name="ce">{{cite journal |title=General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) |journal=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=6 June 2017 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/general-agreement-on-tariffs-and-trade |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302065703/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/general-agreement-on-tariffs-and-trade |url-status=live }}</ref> From the outset, [[government procurement]] was excluded from the scope of the agreement.<ref>World Trade Organization, [https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/gpa_overview_e.htm Overview of the Agreement on Government Procurement], accessed on 21 March 2025</ref>

===Annecy Round: 1949===
{{main|Annecy Round}}
The second round took place in 1949 in [[Annecy]], France. 13 countries took part in the round. The main focus of the talks was more tariff reductions, around 5,000 in total.

===Torquay Round: 1951===
{{main|Torquay Round}}
The third round occurred in [[Torquay]], England, in 1951.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact4_e.htm|title=Understanding the WTO – The GATT years: from Havana to Marrakesh|website=www.wto.org|language=en|access-date=2017-07-06|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305153601/https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact4_e.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bagwell|first1=Kyle|last2=Staiger|first2=Robert W.|last3=Yurukoglu|first3=Ali|year=2020|title=Multilateral Trade Bargaining: A First Look at the GATT Bargaining Records|journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics|language=en|volume=12|issue=3|pages=72–105|doi=10.1257/app.20170574|s2cid=226194899|issn=1945-7782|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w21488.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602141712/http://www.nber.org/papers/w21488.pdf |archive-date=2018-06-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> Thirty-eight countries took part in the round. 8,700 tariff concessions were made totalling the remaining amount of tariffs to ¾ of the tariffs which were in effect in 1948. The contemporaneous rejection by the U.S. of the [[Havana Charter]] signified the establishment of the GATT as a governing world body.<ref>Michael Hudson, ''Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance'', 2nd ed. (London and Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2003), 258.</ref>

=== Geneva Round: 1955–1956 ===
{{main|Geneva Round}}
The fourth round returned to [[Geneva]] in 1955 and lasted until May 1956. Twenty-six countries took part in the round. $2.5&nbsp;billion in tariffs were eliminated or reduced.

===Dillon Round: 1960–1962===
{{main|Dillon Round}}
The fifth round occurred once more in [[Geneva]] and lasted from 1960 to 1962. The talks were named after U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Under Secretary of State [[Douglas Dillon]], who first proposed the talks. Twenty-six countries took part in the round. Along with reducing over $4.9&nbsp;billion in tariffs, it also yielded discussion relating to the creation of the [[European Economic Community]] ([[European Community|EEC]]).

=== Kennedy Round: 1964–1967 ===
{{summarise|from|Kennedy Round|date=April 2020}}
{{main|Kennedy Round}}
The sixth round of GATT multilateral trade negotiations took place between 1964 and 1967. It was named after U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] in recognition of his support for the reformulation of the United States trade agenda, which resulted in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This Act gave the President the widest-ever negotiating authority.

As the Dillon Round went through the laborious process of item-by-item tariff negotiations, it became clear, long before the Round ended, that a more comprehensive approach was needed to deal with the emerging challenges resulting from the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) and [[EFTA]], as well as Europe's re-emergence as a significant international trader more generally.

Japan's high economic growth rate portended the major role it would play later as an exporter, but the focal point of the Kennedy Round always was the United States–EEC relationship. Indeed, there was an influential American view that saw what became the Kennedy Round as the start of a transatlantic partnership that might ultimately lead to a transatlantic economic community.

To an extent, this view was shared in Europe, but the process of European unification created its own stresses under which the Kennedy Round at times became a secondary focus for the EEC. An example of this was the French veto in January 1963, before the round had even started, on membership by the United Kingdom.

Another was the internal crisis of 1965, which ended in the Luxembourg Compromise. Preparations for the new round were immediately overshadowed by the Chicken War, an early sign of the impact variable levies under the Common Agricultural Policy would eventually have. Some participants in the Round had been concerned that the convening of [[UNCTAD]], scheduled for 1964, would result in further complications, but its impact on the actual negotiations was minimal.

'''In May 1963 Ministers reached agreement on three negotiating objectives for the round''':

# Measures for the expansion of trade of developing countries as a means of furthering their economic development,
# Reduction or elimination of tariffs and other barriers to trade, and
# Measures for access to markets for agricultural and other primary products.

The working hypothesis for the tariff negotiations was a linear tariff cut of 50% with the smallest number of exceptions. A drawn-out argument developed about the trade effects a uniform linear cut would have on the dispersed rates (low and high tariffs quite far apart) of the United States as compared to the much more concentrated rates of the EEC which also tended to be in the lower held of United States tariff rates.

The EEC accordingly argued for an evening-out or harmonisation of peaks and troughs through its cerement, double cart and thirty: ten proposals. Once negotiations had been joined, the lofty working hypothesis was soon undermined. The special-structure countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa), so called because their exports were dominated by raw materials and other primary commodities, negotiated their tariff reductions entirely through the item-by-item method.

In the end, the result was an average 35% reduction in tariffs, except for textiles, chemicals, steel and other sensitive products; plus a 15% to 18% reduction in tariffs for agricultural and food products. In addition, the negotiations on chemicals led to a provisional agreement on the abolition of the American Selling Price (ASP). This was a method of valuing some chemicals used by the noted States for the imposition of import duties which gave domestic manufacturers a much higher level of protection than the tariff schedule indicated.

However, this part of the outcome was disallowed by Congress, and the American Selling Price was not abolished until Congress adopted the results of the Tokyo Round. The results on agriculture overall were poor. The most notable achievement was agreement on a Memorandum of Agreement on Basic Elements for the Negotiation of a World Grants Arrangement, which eventually was rolled into a new International Grains Arrangement.

The EEC claimed that for it the main result of the negotiations on agriculture was that they "greatly helped to define its own common policy". The developing countries, who played a minor role throughout the negotiations in this round, benefited nonetheless from substantial tariff cuts particularly in non-agricultural items of interest to them.

Their main achievement at the time, however, was seen to be the adoption of Part IV of the GATT, which absolved them from according reciprocity to developed countries in trade negotiations. In the view of many developing countries, this was a direct result of the call at UNCTAD I for a better trade deal for them.

There has been argument ever since whether this symbolic gesture was a victory for them, or whether it ensured their exclusion in the future from meaningful participation in the multilateral trading system. On the other hand, there was no doubt that the extension of the Long-Term Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Cotton Textiles, which later became the Multi-Fiber Arrangement, for three years until 1970 led to the longer-term impairment of export opportunities for developing countries.

Another outcome of the Kennedy Round was the adoption of an Anti-dumping Code, which gave more precise guidance on the implementation of Article VI of the GATT. In particular, it sought to ensure speedy and fair investigations, and it imposed limits on the retrospective application of anti-dumping measures.

$40&nbsp;billion in tariffs were eliminated or reduced via the Kennedy Round.

===Tokyo Round: 1973–1979===
{{main|Tokyo Round}}
Reduced tariffs and established new regulations aimed at controlling the proliferation of non-tariff barriers and voluntary export restrictions. 102 countries took part in the round. Concessions were made on $19&nbsp;billion worth of trade.

===Formation of Quadrilateral Group: 1981===
The [[Quadrilateral Group]] was formed in 1982 by the [[European Union]], the United States, Japan and Canada, to influence the GATT.

=== Uruguay Round: 1986–1994 ===
{{Main|Uruguay Round}}
The [[Uruguay Round]] began in 1986. It was the most ambitious round to date, as of 1986, hoping to expand the competence of the GATT to important new areas such as [[service (economics)|services]], [[capital (economics)|capital]], intellectual property, textiles, and agriculture. 123 countries took part in the round. The [[Uruguay Round]] was also the first set of multilateral trade negotiations in which developing countries had played an active role.<ref>{{cite web|title=The GATT Uruguay Round|url=http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=5443&title=gatt-uruguay-round-ldcs|work=ODI briefing paper|publisher=[[Overseas Development Institute]]|access-date=28 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803075541/http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=5443&title=gatt-uruguay-round-ldcs|archive-date=3 August 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Agriculture was essentially exempted from previous agreements as it was given special status in the areas of [[import quota]]s and [[Export subsidy|export subsidies]], with only mild caveats. However, by the time of the Uruguay round, many countries considered the exception of agriculture to be sufficiently glaring that they refused to sign a new deal without some movement on agricultural products. These fourteen countries came to be known as the "[[Cairns Group]]", and included mostly small and medium-sized agricultural exporters such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, [[Indonesia]], and New Zealand.

The Agreement on Agriculture of the Uruguay Round continues to be the most substantial [[trade liberalisation]] agreement in agricultural products in the history of trade negotiations. The goals of the agreement were to improve market access for agricultural products, reduce domestic support of agriculture in the form of price-distorting [[subsidies]] and quotas, eliminate over time export subsidies on agricultural products and to harmonise to the extent possible sanitary and phytosanitary measures between member countries.

==World Trade Organization==
{{Main|Uruguay Round}}
{{see also|Member states of the World Trade Organization#List of members and accession dates}}

In 1993, the GATT was updated ('GATT 1994') to include new obligations upon its signatories. One of the most significant changes was the creation of the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO). The 76 existing GATT members and the [[European Communities]] became the founding members of the WTO on 1 January 1995. The other 51 GATT members rejoined the WTO in the following two years (the last being [[Republic of the Congo|Congo]] in 1997). Since the founding of the WTO, 33 new non-GATT members have joined and 22 are currently negotiating membership. There are a total of [[Member states of the World Trade Organization|164 member countries in the WTO]], with [[Liberia]] and [[Afghanistan]] being the newest members as of 2018.

Of the original GATT members, [[Syria]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min96_e/chrono.htm |title=Fiftieth Anniversary GATT |publisher=Wto.org |access-date=2013-08-16 |archive-date=28 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328055220/http://www.wto.org/english/theWTO_e/minist_e/min96_e/chrono.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/org6_e.htm |title=Understanding the WTO – members |publisher=WTO |access-date=2013-08-16 |archive-date=29 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229021759/http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/org6_e.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Lebanon]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.wto.org/gattdocs/q/GG/GATTCP/91.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220181303/https://docs.wto.org/gattdocs/q/GG/GATTCP/91.PDF |archive-date=2019-02-20 |url-status=live|title=Withdrawal of the Government of the Lebanon. |publisher=Wto.org |access-date=2019-02-20}}</ref> and the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|SFR Yugoslavia]] have not rejoined the WTO. Since [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|FR Yugoslavia]] (renamed as [[Serbia and Montenegro]] and with membership negotiations later split in two), is not recognised as a direct SFRY successor state; therefore, its application is considered a new (non-GATT) one. The General Council of WTO, on 4 May 2010, agreed to establish a working party to examine the request of [[Syria]] for WTO membership.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_syrian_arab_republic_e.htm |title=Accession status: Syrian Arab Republic |publisher=WTO |access-date=2013-08-16 |archive-date=11 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511161627/http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_syrian_arab_republic_e.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news10_e/gc_04may10_e.htm |title=2010 News items – Working party established on Syria's membership request |publisher=WTO |access-date=2013-08-16}}</ref> The contracting parties who founded the [[WTO]] ended official agreement of the "GATT 1947" terms on 31 December 1995. [[Montenegro]] became a member in 2012, while [[Serbia]] is in the decision stage of the negotiations and is expected to become a member of the WTO in the future.

While GATT was a set of rules agreed upon by nations, the WTO is an [[intergovernmental organisation]] with its own headquarters and staff, and its scope includes both traded goods and trade within the [[service sector]] and [[intellectual property rights]]. Although it was designed to serve multilateral agreements, during several rounds of GATT negotiations (particularly the Tokyo Round) [[plurilateral]] agreements created selective trading and caused fragmentation among members. WTO arrangements are generally a multilateral agreement settlement mechanism of GATT.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/whatis_e.htm|title=WTO &#124; What is the WTO?|website=www.wto.org|access-date=15 September 2017|archive-date=27 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727205131/https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/whatis_e.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Effects on trade liberalisation ==
The average tariff levels for the major GATT participants were about 22 per cent in 1947.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Bown|first1=Chad P.|last2=Irwin|first2=Douglas A.|editor1-first=Manfred|editor1-last=Elsig|editor2-first=Bernard|editor2-last=Hoekman|editor3-first=Joost|editor3-last=Pauwelyn|year=2017|title=The GATT's Starting Point: Tariff Levels circa 1947|journal=Assessing the World Trade Organization|pages=45–74|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781108147644.004|isbn=978-1-108-14764-4|doi-access=}}</ref> As a result of the first negotiating rounds, tariffs were reduced in the GATT core of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, relative to other contracting parties and non-GATT participants.<ref name=":0" /> By the Kennedy round (1962–67), the average tariff levels of GATT participants were about 15%.<ref name=":0" /> After the Uruguay Round, tariffs were under 5%.<ref name=":0" />

In addition to facilitating applied tariff reductions, the early GATT's contribution to trade liberalisation "include binding the negotiated tariff reductions for an extended period (made more permanent in 1955), establishing the generality of non-discrimination through [[most favoured nation]] (MFN) treatment and [[national treatment]] status, ensuring increased transparency of trade policy measures, and providing a forum for future negotiations and for the peaceful resolution of bilateral disputes. All of these elements contributed to the rationalization of trade policy and the reduction of trade barriers and [[policy uncertainty]]."<ref name=":0" />

According to Dartmouth economic historian Douglas Irwin,<ref name=":1" />

<blockquote>The prosperity of the world economy over the past half century owes a great deal to the growth of world trade which, in turn, is partly the result of farsighted officials who created the GATT. They established a set of procedures giving stability to the trade-policy environment and thereby facilitating the rapid growth of world trade. With the long run in view, the original GATT conferees helped put the world economy on a sound foundation and thereby improved the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people around the world.</blockquote>

== Article 24 ==

Following the [[Brexit|United Kingdom's vote to withdraw from the European Union]], supporters of leaving the EU suggested that Article 24, paragraph 5B of the treaty could be used to maintain a "standstill" in trading conditions between the UK and the EU [[No-deal Brexit|in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a trade deal]], hence preventing the introduction of tariffs. According to proponents of this approach, it could be used to implement an interim agreement pending negotiation of a final agreement lasting up to ten years.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Leroux |first1=Marcus |title=Trade rules that would mean no tariffs for decade |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trade-rules-that-would-mean-no-tariffs-for-decade-s0nf2p5z6 |access-date=15 July 2019 |work=The Times |date=21 March 2017 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715131213/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trade-rules-that-would-mean-no-tariffs-for-decade-s0nf2p5z6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

This claim formed the basis of the so-called "[[Kit Malthouse|Malthouse]] compromise" between [[UK Conservative Party|Conservative party]] factions as to how to replace [[Brexit withdrawal agreement|the withdrawal agreement]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Paterson |first1=Owen |title=Here's our plan for an orderly no-deal Brexit, and delivered on time |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/13/no-deal-brexit-erg-withdrawal-agreement-malthouse |access-date=15 July 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=13 March 2019 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715132154/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/13/no-deal-brexit-erg-withdrawal-agreement-malthouse |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this plan was rejected by parliament.<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Carroll |first1=Sinead |title=British MPs have voted against a no-deal Brexit. So, what now? |url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/indepth/british-mps-have-voted-against-a-no-deal-brexit-so-what-now/ar-BBUJLrI?li=BBr5KbJ |access-date=15 July 2019 |publisher=MSNBC |date=13 March 2019 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715132153/https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/indepth/british-mps-have-voted-against-a-no-deal-brexit-so-what-now/ar-BBUJLrI%3Fli%3DBBr5KbJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The claim that Article 24 might be used was also adopted by [[Boris Johnson]] during his [[Conservative party leadership election, 2019|2019 campaign to lead the Conservative Party]].

The claim that Article 24 might be used in this way has been criticised by [[Mark Carney]], [[Liam Fox]] and others as being unrealistic given the requirement in paragraph 5c of the treaty that there be an agreement between the parties for paragraph 5b to be of use as, in the event of a "no-deal" scenario, there would be no agreement. Moreover, critics of the GATT 24 approach point out that services would not be covered by such an arrangement.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Chris |title=Gatt 24: Would obscure trade rule help with no-deal Brexit? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47216870 |access-date=13 July 2019 |publisher=BBC |date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=13 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713143140/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47216870 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wood |first1=Vincent |title=What is GATT 24: What is the WTO clause at the centre of Andrew Neil's grilling of Boris Johnson |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gatt-24-brexit-boris-johnson-andrew-neil-wto-no-deal-a9003211.html |access-date=13 July 2019 |work=The Independent |archive-date=13 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713152401/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gatt-24-brexit-boris-johnson-andrew-neil-wto-no-deal-a9003211.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Special and differential treatment==
'''Special and differential treatment''' (S&D) is a set of GATT provisions (GATT 1947, Article XVIII) that exempts developing countries from the same strict trade rules and disciplines of more industrialized countries.<ref>{{CRS|article = Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition|url = http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf|author= Jasper Womach}}</ref> That is, developed countries will treat developing countries differently. In the [[Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture]], for example, developing countries are given longer time periods to phase in export subsidy and tariff reductions than the more industrialized countries.  The least developed countries are exempt from any reduction commitments.

==See also==
* [[Cultural exception]]
* [[Most favoured nation]]
* [[National treatment]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Aaronson Susan A. (1996). ''Trade and the American Dream: A Social History of Postwar Trade Policy & Co.''. {{ISBN?}}
* Goldstein, Judith (11 May 2017). "Trading in the Twenty-First Century: Is There a Role for the World Trade Organization?". ''Annual Review of Political Science''. 20 (1): 545–564.
* Irwin, Douglas A. "The GATT in Historical Perspective," ''American Economic Review'' Vol. 85, No. 2, (May 1995), pp.&nbsp;323–328. {{JSTOR|2117941}}.
* McKenzie, Francine (Summer 2008). "GATT and the Cold War," ''Journal of Cold War Studies''. 10#3 pp.&nbsp;78–109.
* Zeiler, Thomas W. (1999). ''Free Trade, Free World: The Advent of GATT''. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807824585/ excerpt and text search]

==External links==
* [https://piie.com/experts/peterson-perspectives/trade-talks-episode-9-happy-70th-gattiversary-origins-multilateral Trade Talks Episode 9: Happy 70th GATTiversary – The Origins of Multilateral Trade]
* [https://exhibits.stanford.edu/gatt GATT Digital Library 1947–1994 at Stanford University]
* [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/wto-trade-impasse The WTO and Global Trade at PBS]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/2430089.stm BBCnews World/Europe country profile]
* [https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/gatt47_e.pdf Text of GATT 1947]
* [https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/06-gatt.pdf Text of GATT 1994]

{{International trade}}
{{Globalization}}
{{World Trade Organization}}
{{Harry S. Truman}}
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