Spoiling world trade. (World Trade Organization should address the regional trade deals that threaten global trade)(Editorial)(Cover Story)

Economist (US), The, December, 1996

Members of the World Trade Organization should take the opportunity at their Dec 1996 meeting in Singapore to eradicate aspects of their individual regional trade deals that discourage international trade. They should also strive to make the organization a powerful catalyst for liberal world trade.

BY THE sorry standards of much of this century, world trade looks in rude health. In the 1930s, protectionism helped poison the world economy. After the second world war, tariffs and other trade barriers fell too slowly. However, over the past decade, many of the restrictions that stifle international commerce have been relaxed-thanks in large part to the lengthy Uruguay round of GATT talks, completed in 1993. Since 1990 world trade has grown by 6% a year, compared with less...

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