The GATT Legal System and World Trade Diplomacy (Second Edition) by Robert E. Hudec

Abstract

The GATT Legal System and World Trade Diplomacy, 2nd edition by Robert E. Hudec. Published by Butterworths, London and U.S.A. (1990, xxi and 376 pp., incl. Preface, Contents, Appendices and Index) . Hardback. Price not disclosed. Since December 1990, the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has dominated press headlines all over the world, when the current round of multilateral trade talks (better known as the Uruguay Round), which has been going on under the GATT auspices for the last four years, failed to produce the breakthrough agreement that was expected when it first started. The failure to transform four years of trade talks into an instrument that was to serve international trade in goods and services well into the 21st century was largely the outcome of the long-standing disagreement between the United States and the European Economic Community on a number of key issues, pertinent among them being that of agricultural subsidies. Although it had been warned that the deadlock in the final deliberations of the Uruguay Round would lead to the collapse of world trade, the ensuing months proved that these fears had been exaggerated and that the only parties to suffer would be the developing and underdeveloped countries, whose economies cannot thrive in a protectionist environment and in a world full of restrictive practices. The General Agreement was signed in Geneva by 23 countries on 30 October 1947 and aimed at liberalising and stabilising global trade in the aftermath of World War II by removing tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade. Although GATT …