Table of Content

Tables.   2

Abbreviations.   3

1.  Introduction  4

2.  The eight trade rounds after GATT and the Doha Round  5

2.1.  The eight trade rounds held after 1947.  5

2.1.1.  The Geneva Round  5

2.1.2.  The Annecy Round.  6

2.1.3.  The Torquay Round  6

2.1.4.  The Geneva Round  6

2.1.5.  The Dillion Round.  7

2.1.6.  The Kennedy Round  7

2.1.7.  The Tokyo Round.  7

2.1.8.  The Uruguay Round  8

2.2.  The Doha Round.  9

2.2.1.  Objectives of the Doha Round.  9

2.2.2.  Why has the Doha Round continuously failed?  10

2.2.3.  Relevance of the Doha Round based on the present trade scenario  11

3.  How can the Doha Round be able to meet consensus?  12

4.  Critically discussion of underpinned theoretical concepts and their usefulness to a  

manager   13

References   14

i.  Textbooks  14

ii.  Journals  14

iii.  Newspapers.  14

iv.  Internet Sources  15

Tables   

Table 1:  The eight trade rounds held after 1947  5

Table 2:  Average Tariff Changes in the Tokyo Round (TR) 1973-79  8

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Abbreviations

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations

DR Dillion Round

DR Doha Round

EEC European Economic Community

EU European Union

GATT General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade

ITO International Trade Organization

KR Kennedy Round

KR Kennedy Round

NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement

TR Tokyo Round

TRIMS Trade-related Investment Measures

TRIPS Trade-related Aspects of intellectual Property Rights

UR Uruguay Round

US United States

WTO World Trade Organization

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1. Introduction

Nowadays, our economy is signed by the impacts of the globalization which has led to a closer integration of markets around the world. Countries and their companies are taking advantage of foreign markets and their availability of resources in order to improve their performance. However, the ability to do so is the result of multilateral trade negotiations after World War II.

In 1947, negotiations of General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) took place for the first time in order to promote and improve international trade. In particular it focused on reducing the three mayor barriers to trade, tariffs, exports subsidies and domestic support (Tantia 2009). After 1947 eight rounds of negotiations have been held. By the fact that developed and developing countries were frightened that GATT could benefit the other more than them, consequently each of the following rounds has failed. In 1995 GATT has been replaced by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which highlighted that progress could be achieved through the enhanced integration of developing countries into the world economy (Busse 2003).

This assignment is going to analyse the various trade rounds held after the formation of GATT and the Doha Round and why they have failed continuously. Furthermore, it will be discussed how the Doha Round could make consensus and what steps are needed to achieve consensus.

In conclusion the theoretical concepts that underpin this case will be discussed and it will be analyzed how a business manager can use them.

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2.  The eight trade rounds after GATT and the Doha Round  

2.1.  The eight trade rounds held after  1947

After  the GATT had come into existence eight further rounds of trade negotiations were held.  

The  following table is showing them. Their contents and ability of success will be analyzed in  

the  following.  

Table 1:  The eight trade rounds held after  1947

Trade  round Year No. of participating Subjects  

Countries   

Geneva  Round 1947 23 Tariffs  

Annecy  Round 1949 13 Tariffs  

Torquay  Round 1951 38 Tariffs  

Geneva  Round 1956 26 Tariffs  

Dillon  Round 1960-1961 26 Tariffs  

Kennedy  Round 1963-1967 62 Tariffs and anti-dumping measures  

Tokyo  Round 1973-1979 102 Tariffs, non-tariff measures, “framework  

agreements   

Uruguay  Round 1986-1993 128 Tariffs, non-tariff measures, rules, services,  

intellectual  property, dispute settlement,  

textiles  , agriculture, creation of WTO, etc.  

Source  : http://www.wto.org/english/thewto e/whatis e/tif e/fact4 e.htm  

2.1.1.  The Geneva Round  

This  round was the first round of negotiations and took place from April to October 1974.  23

participating  countries negotiated on a bilateral “product by product, request offer basis, they  

completed  123 negotiations and established 20 schedules which dealt with the reduction of  

tariffs.  This agreement included 45.000 tariff concessions which affected 10 billion in trade.  

It  was successful since the US was willing to reduce or cut its tariffs on European imports  

and  did not put European countries under pressure to abandon their trade restrictions.  

However  , this round could not make much progress in liberalizing trade, as the EU relied  

heavily  on non-tariff measures to increase their trade (Tantia, 2009 Södersten and Reed,  

1994,  2001)  

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