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Industrial Policy, National Security, and the Perilous Plight of the WTO

Online ISBN:
9780197795132
Print ISBN:
9780197795101
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Industrial Policy, National Security, and the Perilous Plight of the WTO

Petros C Mavroidis
Petros C Mavroidis

Edwin B. Parker Professor of Foreign and Comparative Law

Columbia Law School
, New York, NY,
USA
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Published online:
7 November 2024
Published in print:
14 January 2025
Online ISBN:
9780197795132
Print ISBN:
9780197795101
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

The WTO is going through an unprecedented crisis that has seriously eroded its relevance. The repeated invocations of national security against other members are evidence of a growing distrust. Industrial policy in the name of national security was unheard of when the WTO entered the realm of international relations. The disputes that arise cannot be adequately addressed because the WTO contract cannot be adequately enforced due to the dysfunctional Appellate Body. But even if this were not the case, could enforcement of an outdated contract ever solve the emerging problem? The response in this book is negative—the WTO contract is in dire need of updating. Alas, no one is working in this direction. The WTO is facing what Joseph Nye called a “Kindleberger trap”: the parties that could take the lead to invest in the international order are either unwilling or find it impossible to do so. Trading nations seem to have forgotten that the cost of no WTO is sizeable anyway (if trade growth wanes). And there is a risk that the cost extends beyond international commercial relations.

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