TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE WTO SUCCEEDED IN PROMOTING FREE AND FAIR INTERNATIONAL TRADE?

POINT 3

Closely aligned to this is the criticism that the WTO takes too long to arbitrate and settle disputes. For example, it can take more than five years from the initial receipt of a complaint from one member to the final panel ruling. This discourages countries to use the WTO as a forum to settle disputes and they may even forgo the negotiations in the first place. For example, the US complaint from 2013 that China was dumping steel in the US is now at the panel appeal stage and is not resolved —this is one reason perhaps why the US is now swinging towards greater protectionism. Similarly, critics may also argue that the number of trade disputes settled through the WTO is inadequate. The WTO is not fulfilling its stated aims.

POINT 3 EVAL

Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that protectionism is on the rise again i.e. Brexit and the election of Trump on a protectionist manifesto. This is probably because of the fact that many countries have still not completely recovered from the Great Recession of 2008-10. As a result, people are turning to 'old fashioned' protectionist policies again in order to try and protect jobs and businesses at home. Import tariffs themselves might be lower than ever but non-tariff barriers proliferate and the WTO does not seem to have been effective in curbing these types of protectionism, as they are so difficult to describe. A further criticism is that the WTO has an inbuilt bias favouring advanced and powerful nations and trading blocs such as the USA and the EU, and operating against weaker, developing ones. This has been particularly true in the entrenched systems of agricultural protection! financial support (think Common Agricultural Policy) which was major reason for the collapse of the Doha round of talks. Finally, it can be argued that the WTO has failed to confront ethical issues, such as the use of child labour and poor working conditions in developing economies as well as the environmental issues, such as the depletion of global fish stocks, deforestation, and climate change. Again, the WTO is not living up to its stated aim of fair trade, which appears to have been lost at the expense of free trade.

POINT 2

Given its wide membership, the WTO is now in a position to fulfil its aims of providing a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements and also settling their trade disputes. It also has the power to levy fines when breaches A strong chain of analysis is of global trade agreements have occurred. This ensures that free trade shown here. between members is more likely since they have more opportunities to meet with each other but also they feel more confident that the deals they strike are more likely to be binding. Finally, the WTO seeks to make trade between countries more transparent so that people can be sure that free trade is working to their benefit and is fair.

CON

In conclusion, the WTO has work to do to ensure that it continues to be a significant actor in the 21st century. Although it provides the opportunities for trade to prosper, competing national/regional aims are either skewing the direction of the WTO or bypassing it all together—the rise of trade blocs is an excellent example. The WTO must find a way of ensuring that it satisfies all of its members' interests if it wishes to remain credible in the medium term.

POINT 1 EVAL

Membership of the WTO has expanded with the successful admission of China, India and Russia — all of which were events of significance. Without their inclusion, the WTO could have been an insignificant actor since a handful of the largest economies in the world were not abiding by their global trade rules. Since they have joined, however, they (like all other members) have had to introduce a large number of economic and legal changes and agree to abide by the established members' rules. For example, countries that join the WTO are now required to achieve sustained reductions in average import tariffs. After entry in 2012, Russia's average impart tariffs fell from 9.4% to 6.4% on industrial goods and from 15,6% to 11.3% for agricultural goods. This evidence suggests, therefore, that the WTO is effective in promoting fairer and freer trade.

POINT 1

The WTO states that it seeks to try and promote free trade by persuading countries to lower their import tariffs and other barriers such as the widespread use of import licences, export subsidies and import quotas. The WTO is clear that it is the membership that decides on the aims and all rules! targets are only set after agreement from those members. This is a good, inclusive way of fostering a mutually beneficial process since no government should feel that their views have not been heard and more countries are likely to abide by the rulings as a result. This should increase the WTO's success in promoting fair and free trade.

INTRO

The WTQ was established in 1995 when it replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GAiT). It has its headquarters in Geneva and, as of July 2016, it has 164 members. The WTO claims to promote free and fair trade through multilateral talks and negotiations, and to arbitrate between countries that are in dispute. This essay seeks to challenge that view - firstly, by looking at the ways the WTO tries to achieve the aims and, secondly, evaluating the effectiveness of those strategies.

POINT 2 EVAL

The influence of the WTO is waning however. Throughout the 21st century, there has been a rapid growth of bilateral trade agreements between countries rather than through multi-lateral trade agreements e.g. Canada and the EU. Despite the WTO operating as a multilateral organisation, many member countries have favoured bilateral discussions. This is because bilateral negotiations can be fully focussed and relatively quick to complete. The result is that many countries essentially bypass the WTO process and deal directly with each other. The failure of the most recent round of WTO negotiations, the Doha round, is widely regarded as evidence of the inherent problems of multilateral discussions — it started in 2001 and still has not reached any useful conclusions or agreements. Therefore, the WTO is not effective anymore in helping trade to be freer or fairer.