POS 2051 Law & Politics of International Trade
This course studies the evolution of the global trade regime from the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) to the WTO (the World Trade Organization), set against the recurring conflicts between free trade and protectionist forces. It is focused on the extension of the principles of liberal trade in goods and services world-wide and its outcome--the growth of rule-oriented international trade practices based on most-favored-nation treatment and national treatment. Included in the subject matter of the course are the barriers to free trade, tariff and non-tariff, the dispute settlement procedure under the WTO, the emergence of new protectionist tendencies in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Students in this course learn the legal framework of the WTO, economic policies of major trading nations, and the status of the developing countries and former communist countries ("economies in transition.") within the WTO and the impact of the Organization on their political and economic development of these countries.