Liberalization and protectionism in international trade

Abstract

The article deals with the process of liberalization of international trade during the past six and a half decades. It is stated that steady movement toward more “open and fair trade” under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariff s and Trade (GATT), which continued for almost half a century, became slower and practically stopped aft er the establishment of the WTO. The article pays attention to the fact that at present international trade is governed by the principles, rules and regulations laid down in the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations. It is outlined that new regulations are now mostly laid within the framework of regional trade agreements, the number of which is rapidly growing.