Trade Control and WTO Law: Examining the Adequacy of the GATT Exception

Abstract

AbstractIndividual states increasingly rely upon economic sanctions and sanctions with extraterritorial effects to achieve their foreign policy goals. However, the proliferation of economic sanctions, especially trade control, limits free trade between WTO members and targeted states, which urges them to question WTO consistency. For the WTO, the principal concern is sanction overreach and determining the legality of related trade measures under the WTO framework. Against this backdrop, this article analyses two potential justifications for trade control: invoking Article XX and Article XXI of the GATT 1994. The subsequent analysis focuses on the WTO consistency of the Anti-foreign Sanctions Law of the People’s Republic of China, particularly state practices, possible violations of WTO rules and invocation of the national security exception clause. Additionally, from the perspective of WTO rules, suggestions for the improvement of China’s anti-foreign sanctions regime are put forward. The conclusion emphasizes that the GATT exception cannot be used to justify all types of anti-foreign sanctions.KeywordsEconomic sanctionsAnti-foreign sanctionsWTOGATT exceptionNational security exception