Study On Grandfather Clause Of GATT/WTO

As capitalism went into monopoly stage, the capitalist countries intended to abandon freetrade but to trade protectionism. This had blocked the development of the international trade. Thegrave economic crisis from1929to1930made this situation serious. In order to get off thispredicament, the states began to negotiate to find outlets. As one of the outlets, GATT(GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and Trade) made its contracting parties to take multilateral negotiationsabout tariff diminution in some time and also made a place for world’s major trading counties tohiggle. Grandfather clause was one of the ways to higgle.Although the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has never legally come into force, itssubstance is applied on the basis of a “Protocol of Provisional Application”(the Protocol). Underthe Protocol, the GATT Contracting Parties undertake: to apply provisionally on and after1January1948:(a) PartsⅠand Ⅲ of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and (b) Part Ⅱof that Agreement to the fullest extent not inconsistent with existing legislation.In chapter1and2of this article mainly introduces the meaning and origin of GrandfatherClause. In chapter2, It delved into the scope and effect of Grandfather Clause in GATT especiallythe questions of it in GATT practice. In this part, it includes the “mandatory” standard inGrandfather Clause, the “Existing Legislation” in Grandfather Clause, which country can claim itand inconsistent legislation, post-1948limitations on laws, which may be grandfathered. As theUnited States had been considered the champion of the grandfather clause, in chapter3, itintroduces the Grandfather Clause in United States. It includes the injury text in CountervailingDuty Law, the Manufacturing Clause in U.S. Copyright Law, section22of the AgriculturalAdjustment Act and the Anti-dumping Act1916. In the last chapter, it includes the dead ofGrandfather Clause.