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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2009

Simon Lester
Affiliation:
WorldTradeLaw.net LLC
Bryan Mercurio
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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Summary

The modern history of the world trading system, and in particular international trade agreements, is evidenced by shifts among bilateralism, regionalism and multilateralism. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, bilateralism was clearly dominant. Trade agreements were negotiated on a bilateral basis between individual countries. In the 1860s and 1870s, England initiated much of this activity, pushing its trading partners to sign trade agreements that reciprocally lowered tariff rates. In the 1930s, it was the United States that made a big push in this area, through its Reciprocal Trade Agreements program, although a number of other countries were also active in negotiating bilateral agreements to lower tariff rates.

However, immediately after World War II, multilateralism and regionalism had replaced bilateralism as the dominant approach. From the late 1940s through the mid-1990s, multilateralism grew in strength as more and more nations joined the GATT or its successor the WTO. The GATT, which began with twenty-three countries, unquestionably came to dominate the world trading scene. It did not, however, completely replace regional and bilateral trade agreements. Regionalism remained a competing model, as nations in Europe, North America, South America and elsewhere all formed trading blocs during this period. East Asia was the only region to eschew regionalism, while Western Europe was the clear leader in terms of both the timing and the scope of its economic integration, with other regions following a bit behind. Bilateralism, on the other hand, diminished considerably during this period.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Simon Lester, Bryan Mercurio, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements
  • Online publication: 16 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511575990.001
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Simon Lester, Bryan Mercurio, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements
  • Online publication: 16 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511575990.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Simon Lester, Bryan Mercurio, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements
  • Online publication: 16 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511575990.001
Available formats
×