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1 1 (October 1, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbff0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ICngressional Researh Service '~~ Inorm i Ihe aelave debate snce 1914 Updated October 1, 2019 The World Trade Organization Ove view The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established on January 1, 1995, following the ratification of the Uruguay Round Agreements and today includes 164 members. It succeeded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was created in 1947 as part of the post- WWII effort to build a stable, open international economic framework. The WTO has three basic functions: (1) administers existing agreements; (2) serves as a negotiating forum for new trade liberalization; and (3) provides a mechanism to settle trade disputes among the parties. The multiple WTO Agreements: cover trade in goods, services and agriculture; remove tariff and nontariff barriers; and establish rules on government practices that directly relate to trade-for example, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, customs valuation, intellectual property rights, and government procurement. The Agreements are based on the principles of nondiscrimination among countries, national treatment, and transparency of trade rules and regulations. Some exceptions, however, such as preferential treatment for developing countries and regional and bilateral free trade agreements, are allowed. The Doha Round The Doha Development Agenda round of multilateral trade negotiations was launched in November 2001. The negotiations were characterized by persistent differences among the United States, the European Union (EU), and developing countries on major issues, such as agriculture, industrial tariffs and nontariff barriers, services, and trade remedies. For example, developing countries (including emerging economic powerhouses such as China, Brazil, and India) sought the reduction of agriculture tariffs and subsidies among developed countries, nonreciprocal market access for manufacturing sectors, and protection for their services industries. In contrast, the United States, the EU, and other developed countries sought reciprocal trade liberalization, especially commercially meaningful access to advanced developing countries' industrial and services sectors, while retaining some measure of protection for their agricultural sectors. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) entered into force on February 22, 2017, and may be the lasting legacy of the Doha Round. The TFA aims to remove customs obstacles at the border through commitments to facilitate and expedite the movement, release, and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. WTO members were unable to announce major deliverables or multilateral negotiated outcomes at the 11 th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 2017, and continue to work toward consensus on future work plans. However, separate groups of WTO members announced multiple initiatives and committed to new work programs or open-ended plurilateral talks on e-commerce, investment facilitation, and micro, and small and medium- sized enterprises. The United States signed on to the declaration in support of e-commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) noted that MC 1I will be remembered as the moment when the impasse at the WTO was broken... like-minded WTO Members and their constituents are not held back by the few Members that are not ready to act. Table I. GATTIWTO Rounds Source: WTO. Agriculture and Development While no breakthroughs were reached at the 2017 Ministerial, members committed to continue negotiations on fisheries subsidies, now with a goal of completion by the next Ministerial in June 2020. In the 2015 Ministerial, members agreed a number of agriculture initiatives, including new disciplines on export financing and export state trading enterprises; to phase out export subsidies; and to minimize or eliminate the impacts of food aid on local commercial markets. None of the agriculture commitments are legally binding nor are they subject to dispute settlement. Members also reached agreement on several measures for least developed countries (LDCs), encompassing various special and differential treatment initiatives in the areas of preferential rules of origin; duty- ttps://crsrepo0s co e

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