Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/90662
Year of Publication: 
1998
Series/Report no.: 
WTO Staff Working Paper No. TISD-98-02
Publisher: 
World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva
Abstract: 
A major challenge for the multilateral trading system is to secure the benefits of trade liberalization without infringing on the freedom of governments to pursue legitimate domestic objectives. The difficulty lies in distinguishing between two types of situations. In one, a non-protectionist government cannot prevent certain domestic policies from incidentally discriminating against foreign competitors. In the other, a protectionist government uses a legitimate objective as an excuse to design domestic policies which inhibit foreign competition. The challenge is to devise rules which are sensitive to the difference between these two situations, exonerating the former while preventing the latter. The approach suggested in this paper is to create a presumption in favour of the economically efficient policy measure, with departures inviting justification.
Subjects: 
international trade
regulation
national treatment
protection
JEL: 
F13
K20
K33
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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