Safeguard Clause With Voluntary Restrictions Related To Research

Safeguard clause is the Safety Valve for maintaining the stability of multilateral trade system. When any product is being imported into the territory of that contracting party in such increased quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten serious injury to domestic producers in that territory of like or directly competitive products, the clause permits the contracting party to take necessary measures to prevent or remedy such injury. Voluntary restraints are the measures for restraining importing quantity, because their side-stepping article19 of GATT, bad transparency, implicit law position, so they are called "grey-area" measures.Voluntary restraints reverse general most favorable nation treatment into conditional most favorable nation treatment; reverse nondiscriminatory safeguard measure into alternative safeguard measure; reverse free trade into administrative trade, unjust trade. So these kinds of measures' frequently applying, threaten the operation of GATT law mechanism. They are obstacles to free trade. Because there are close relation between safeguard clause and voluntary restraints, this thesis, through analyzing the relation, reveals perfecting safeguard clause to regulate voluntary restraints better. Four parts constitute this thesis.The first part is the general theory of safeguard clause and voluntary restraints. Firstly, this part defines the concepts of safeguard clause and voluntary restraints: safeguard clause including article 19 in GAIT and 《Agreement on Safeguards》 , voluntary restraints are the measures taken by exporting government or enterprises for restraining exporting quantity through agreements signed by exporting government or enterprises and importing government or enterprises; then introduces their history; finally, through analyzing their transaction costs, reveals that the existence of safeguard clause resolves the transaction costs in games between international and domestic policy at different time, and that trade system can not resolve the transaction costs effectively results in voluntary restraints.The second part is the relation between safeguard clause in GATT1947 andvoluntary restraints. Firstly, introducing the substantive and procedural conditions for applying safeguard measures prescribed by articlel9 in GATT1947; then, on the basis of introduction, analyzing the defects existing in this article, such as: lack of clear definitions of key factors for applying safeguard measures n not confining the forms of safeguard measures etc, the thesis elaborates because of the existence of these defects, contracting parties distort or side-step this article, as a result, voluntary restraints being outside the framework of GAIT, becoming "grey-area" measures.The third part is the relation between safeguard clause in WTO and voluntary restraints. Firstly, this part introduces ((Agreement on Safeguards)) confining voluntary restraints, and mendings clarifying articlel9 in GAJT1947; then elaborates the defects existing in this agreement, such as: unforeseen developmentSN adjusting industi^ the non-governmental measures adopted or maintained by public and private enterprises etc, provide the room for voluntary restraints to exist; finally, points out the aspects should be mended and strengthened in this agreement in order to confine voluntary restraints better.The forth part is the relation between China safeguard clause and voluntary restraints. Firstly, this part introduces the present situation about China safeguard clause, there being no clause concerning voluntary restraints, then analyzes the reality of voluntary restraints existing in China from international and domestic aspects, pointing out there is necessity to confine it; finally, puts forward some suggestions for China safeguard clause to regulate voluntary restraints.