World Trade Organization (WTO)

1. World Trade Organization (WTO) Original source from Kimburley Choi Oct 19, 2005

2. World Trade Organization(WTO) • Established in 1995 as an international organization • oversees a large number of agreements defining the "rules of trade" between its member states (WTO, 2004a). • Successor: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) • Goal: reduce or abolish international trade barriers. • As of Jan 11, 2007, there are 150 members in WTO.

3. WTO functions • as a negotiating forum for discussions of new and existing trade rules; and • as a trade dispute settlement body.

4. Free Trade • International trade of goods without tarriffs • International trade in services • Free movement of labour between countries • Free movement of capital between countries • Absence of trade distortion policies, e.g. subsidies to domestic industries

5. Negotiations • One country one vote • But many WTO agreements such as adopting agreements (and revisions to them) are determined by consensus. • Consensus: NOT mean unanimity – complete agreement of everyone; because no rejection means agreement  Country member must insist on its rejection • Many negotiations are closed-door meetings without inviting poor countries’ negotiators.

6. Dispute resolutions • Like other international organizations, WTO has no power to enforce decisions when a member complains another.

7. Discipline & Punish • When WTO rules impose disciplines on countries’ policies, the outcome of negotiations among WTO members. The rules are enforced by the members themselves under agreed procedures that they negotiated, including the possibility of sanctions. But those sanctions are imposed by member countries, and authorized by the membership as a whole. This is quite different from other agencies whose bureaucracies can, for example, influence a country’s policy by threatening to withhold credit.

8.  Economically powerful states such as United States can simply ignore ruling against them brought by the economically weak states since they don’t have enough power to hurt US trade and to force US to change it position.

9. Who decide who can be the member? • Iran first applied to join the WTO in 1996, but the US blocked its application 22 times accusing Tehran supporting international terrorism. • Russia first applied to join GATT in 1993, and is still not the WTO member either. • The “big three” members – the US, the European Union, and Japan

10. Who decide who can be the member? • Hong Kong (1 Jan 1995) • China (11 Dec 2001) • Taiwan (1 Jan 2002)

11. Why countries want to be WTO members? • Membership is voluntary, but not joining places the non-participating nation under embargo. • That means, weak countries have to join WTO or under embargo, but joining WTO may mean accepting disagreeable trade rules.

12. WTO main principles • Most-favored-nation (MFN): treating other people equally. • Under the WTO multi-lateral trade agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant someone a special favor (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO members.

13. Multilateral vs. Bilateral trade agreements • The US is using one-on-one agreements with small countries as models for other multilateral trade agreements, hawking them around the world as the ideal way to further trade liberalization. Bilateral deals fragment the coalitions of developing countries.

14. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade • GATS & privatization: December 2005 HK conference main issue – expansion of GATS. • National policies must be made with greater flexibility so that more markets are open to global trade (not only manufactured goods but services as well). • E.g. Water services are pushed for the inclusion in the coverage of GATS.

15. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade 4 modes of supply to deliver cross-border services • Cross border supply • Consumption aboard • Foreign commerce • Presence of natural person

16. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade Mode 1 Service provider from one country delivers service in another country without the presence of the supplier in that country.

17. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade Mode 2 Service delivered to consumers of another member countries.

18. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade Mode 3 Service provided by another country through the commercial presence of the supplier.

19. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade Mode 4 Service provider as person delivers service in another country.

20. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade What are the services? • Business services • Communication services • Construction and related engineering services • Distribution services • Educational services • Environmental services • Financial services • Health related and social services • Tourism and travel related services • Recreational, cultural and sporting services • Transport services

21. Multilateral trade agreementsGATS General Agreement on Trade • GATS proponents deceitfully argue that governments can choose to keep certain sectors closed and that privatization of basic social services is not a GATS requirement. But GATS has very clear bias for private business and non-transparent WTO mechanisms favor developed nations, and processes allow them to apply intense pressure on developing countries.

22. The Yes Men Andy Bichlbaum Mike Bonanno A duo of downwardly-mobile middle-class?

23. The Yes Men Identity Correction

24. The Yes Men In 1993, Mike performed microsurgery on talking GI Joe and Barbie dolls, switching their voice chips so that GI Joe would say “Math is too hard”, while Barbie would bark “Dead men tell no lies.” The Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO)

25. The Yes Men In 1996, Andy was hired to program the little people in an action game, SimCopter. He secretly created an army of men wearing swimsuits, showered each other and the player with kisses. He was fired and formed RTMark.com

26. The Yes Men In 1999, they created the GWBush.com which looked exactly like the real GeorgeWBush.com, but with corrected identity.

27. The Yes Men “There ought to be limits – there ought to be limits – there ought to be limits – to, uh, to freedom. But, uh. And we’re aware of the site, and this guy’s just a garbage man, that’s all he is. And of course I don’t appreciate it, and you wouldn’t either.” Replied by Bush.

28. The Yes Men More in the film. Enjoy.

29. End