Abstract
Before the creation of a world trade system in 1947, the countries had protectionist economic policies or preferential trade agreements for the Empires as the one of Britain and France. In the 1930s, these policies clearly showed their limits with the economic depression and the World War II. As a result, the Western allied powers were willing to build a stable and durable world trade system. The ‘world trade system' can be define as being the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), created in 1947 and then the World Trade Organisation (WTO), replacing it in 1995. Above all, this system aimed at stopping any attempt of “backsliding” from the countries by making them interdependent. These organisations allowed a greater welfare in the trade relations and put an end to the inefficiency of unilateral tariff setting. The creation of the GATT and its evolution deeply reflected the willingness of the United States to liberalize the world trade. Thus, for nearly fifty years, the world trade system clearly evolved in two main directions.
