The Genesis of the GATT

This book is part of a wider project on the economic logic behind the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This volume asks: What does the historical record indicate about the aims and objectives of the framers of the GATT? Where did the provisions of the GATT come from and how did they evolve through various international meetings and drafts? To what extent does the historical record provide support for one or more of the economic rationales for the GATT? This book examines the motivations and contributions of the two main framers of the GATT, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the smaller role of other countries. The framers desired a commercial agreement on trade practices as well as negotiated reductions in trade barriers. Both were sought as a way to expand international trade to promote world prosperity, restrict the use of discriminatory policies to reduce conflict over trade, and thereby establish economic foundations for maintaining world peace.

1. The creation of the GATT; 2. The negotiation of the GATT; 3. The rationales for the GATT; Annex A. Documents relating to the negotiations; Annex B. Negotiating committees and subcommittees.

This book examines the motivations and contributions of the two main framers of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the smaller role of other countries.

Douglas A. Irwin is Robert E. Maxwell Professor of Arts and Sciences in the Economics Department at Dartmouth College. He is author of Free Trade under Fire (2002) and Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade (1996).
Petros C. Mavroidis is Edwin Parker Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, New York, and Professor of Law at the University of Neuchâtel. He is chief reporter of the American Law Institute for the project 'Principle of International Trade: The WTO' and Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Alan O. Sykes is James and Patricia Kowal Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. A leading expert on the application of economics to legal problems, Sykes has focused his research on international economic relations.