Abstract
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a multilateral trading system; in other words, it is shaped by multilateral agreements between member states based on four principles. The first principle is transparency on trade exchanges and WTO decisions. Members have a transparency obligation such as making public WTO practices, laws and new regulations that may influence the nature of trade and investments. The second principle is non-discrimination which aims to not favour one member to another one. This point can be split into two forms. Firstly, it refers to Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment. In fact, goods have to be treated fairly and without discrimination within marketplaces. Secondly, the National Treatment is a safeguard which prevents countries to make imported goods not competitive by applying taxes, charges or even unjustified administrative practices that local products are not subjected to. Reciprocity is also an important feature of the negotiations process. When a country grants a favour to another country, the latter has to make an offer back as well as to the rest of the member states. Finally, progressive trade liberalization principle aims at creating a more free and fairer trade and investments by lowering tariff protections. Importantly, the consensus decision-making wants every single country to agree with the WTO decisions. In theory, there is no influence over member states. How can we identify and asses the economic benefits that might occur as a result of a successful conclusion to the current and recent trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization? How can we use economics to identify the beneficiaries of the current failure to reach an agreement?
