Completing the World Trading System

Unimpeded world trade is still a dream. We may have virtually eliminated borders, but persistent discriminatory measures within borders - in the shapes of restrictive investment policies, inappropriate regulatory interference, and restraints on competition - still have the power to stifle foreign entrants to domestic markets. This work proposes to confront these trade-distorting forces at a new round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks. Drawing on experience of international trade law practice and policymaking, the authors present a detailed agenda designed to: deepen market access for all goods, services, and intellectual property; facilitate and protect investment by foreign enterprises; overcome disparities of national regulatory schemes; ensure nondiscriminatory business operation in foreign markets; and reinforce and support evolving international economic realities. This study also shows how major regional trading arrangements have in fact achieved deeper economic integration than the WTO regime. Incorporating this evidence - as well as other proposals from the academic and policy communities - the text crystallizes the most important trends in international trade law.