By: Dr. Mike Campbell
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is an international body with a mandate to improve global prosperity by ensuring that barriers to trade between nations are eliminated. This simple concept is easily expressed, but, as they say, the devil is in the details.
Nations may perceive that their own narrow interests are best supported by protectionist measures; by the application of subsidies (often hidden) to critical industrial segments; through the application of tariffs on certain imports; or by manipulating national currencies to obtain an edge for their exports. You don’t have to look hard before you will uncover a major name-calling fest between certain major economies; China and America spring readily to mind…
The Doha Agenda
The WTO makes progress through trade rounds which are named for the places in which they were inaugurated. The current round (which started in 2001) is the Doha round. The US has warned that the Doha agenda which involves 21 separate programmes will come to nothing if “big” emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil fail to open up their markets and expand their roles in the global economy. China, in particular, has been criticised because its economic success has not trickled down to the populace at large to a substantial extent. This sows the seeds for popular discontent, but also denies other nations access to a potentially huge marketplace.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) noted that the remarkable growth of China (now the world’s second largest economy), India and Brazil had “fundamentally changed the landscape”. For the Doha round to remain relevant for the future, agreements must reflect this new economic reality and these nations must "accept responsibility commensurate with their expanded roles in the global economy”. The Doha round needs to resolve an impasse related to agriculture which has stymied progress since 2008.