ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, we saw that much of the success of the GATT rounds in liberalising world trade after 1947 was in the considerable reduction in the average level of industrial tariffs. One result of this appears to have been a growth of other forms of protectionism. These have taken a variety of different forms, often grouped together under the general heading of ‘nontariff barriers’ (NTBs). The next two chapters examine some of the most important forms of nontariff restraint on trade. In this chapter, the focus is on quantitative restrictions. Two of the most important forms are import quotas and voluntary export restraints (VERs). The latter, in particular, have come to play an increasingly important role in what is variously referred to as ‘managed trade’ or ‘administered protectionism’. The following chapter will examine two other highly important forms of nontariff protectionism, namely antidumping policy and subsidies. These are both linked to the notion of so-called ‘unfair trading’.
