A Research Of Regional Safeguards Under WTO Framework

Safeguards is one of three trade relief measures including anti-dumping and countervailing, which points at fair trade, restricts imports and protects domestic industry. The use of safeguards grows rapidly these years, and has the trends from goods to services and intellectual property trade fields. Meanwhile, lots of countries in the world turn to regional and sub-regional trade cooperation in the case of the multilateral trade cooperation suffers setbacks. In the practice of regional safeguards, the conflict between discrimination of regional trade arrangements and non-selection (non-discrimination) of WTO safeguards is the main problem, apart from there are the characteristics of launch conditions, differential treatment, implementation modalities in each regional safeguards. This mainly embodied in Article 24 Paragraph 8 of the GATT1994 and Article 2 Paragraph 2 of the WTO : The former asked WTO members have the obligation to eliminate tariffs and other restrictive trade regulations as the member of customs union or free trade area, the safeguards belonging to the scope of it should not be taken to regional members as the "other restrictive trade regulations"; but the latter required the implement of safeguards against import products regardless of its source, that is to say the safeguards should be take to regional members.On the basis of the theory of regional trade arrangements and safeguards, this paper contrasts and analyzes the safeguards in launch conditions, differential treatment, implementation modalities and non-discrimination of WTO, NAFTA, EU, CAFTA, CEPA. Then focuses on the application of the principle of non-discrimination, and summarizes that there are two modes in regional safeguards nowadays which are "bilateral" and "global" , and the "global" mode include three modes which are "completely excluded", "all applied" and "excluded in principle, applied in except". Based on analysis of the modes' economic affects, this paper uses the case American Steel Safeguards as the experience in verification. After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the modes to China one by one, this paper concludes that "completely excluded" is more reasonable, at last puts forward some policy recommendations for supporting the safeguards negotiation and implementation of China attending regional trade arrangements.