Capling Australia and the Global Trade System

From Havana to Seattle

Cambridge University Press

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Beschreibung

Australia and the Global Trade System provides a comprehensive account of Australia's role in developing and maintaining the multilateral trade system from its origins in 1947 to the present day. Australia was one of the 23 original signatories to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and its participation was vital to the success of international efforts to reconstruct a multilateral trade system after the disastrous experiences of the 1930s. Since then, Australia has wielded far more influence in the GATT, and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). This book, based on archival sources and oral interviews, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Australia's trade policies, its commercial diplomacy, and its role and position in the global political economy. It provides a perspective on debates about the capacity of small nations to be agents as well as subjects of history.

Inhalt

Introduction; 1. International trade and the origins of the GATT; 2. Australia joins, 1947: national sovereignty versus the benefits of liberal trade; 3. Antipodean dissatisfaction: the GATT Review, 1954-55; 4. The balancing act: bilateralism and Australian trade with the UK and Japan; 5. Free rider or out rider? The Kennedy and Tokyo Rounds; 6. The problem that won't go away: Australia and agricultural trade protectionism; 7. Australia's finest hour? The Uruguay Round and the Cairns Group; 8. Coercive multilateralism? The Uruguay Round, TRIPS and TRIMS; Conclusion.

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