ABSTRACT
To this point we have assumed that restrictions on imports are nondiscriminatory; that is, all trading partners are treated equally in terms of market access. Such nondiscriminatory trade is a major goal of the GATT/WTO system, which we examine in Chapter 8, but it is far from universal. Most countries have different levels of protection, maintaining the lowest level for partners in trade blocs or friends, and less favorable circumstances for others. The GATT allows such trading blocs when their preferential treatment applies to substantially all trade among the partners. There has been an explosion of over 130 such arrangements since 1995. Whether their members regard them as substitutes for multilateral agreements is not yet clear.
