A Study On The Legal Issues Of "Like Products" In GATT 1994

"Like products" is an important legal concept in GATT 1994,but it lacks specific provisions and unified standards in the whole WTO rules.At present,the legal issues of like products in academic circles mainly focus on how to establish the identification standard accurately and scientifically.Therefore,this paper will start with the concept of like products,analyze the problems of the two major identification standards,and put forward improvement measures to provide some reference for China to solve disputes in international trade of like products.The main body of this paper starts from the following aspects:First,the legal connotation of "like products".In the first part,the concept of like products is analyzed by means of system interpretation.It is found that the connotation and extension are different in different clauses.The second part differentiates "same product","similar product","direct competition or alternative product" which are similar to the concept of "similar product",and compares their differences in application.Secondly,the standard of identifying "like products" and its shortcomings.This chapter focuses on the commonly used international standard of identification,"Border Tax Standard" and "Eye Effect Standard" which has been briefly applied.By citing cases to analyze its internal factors,generation and development,and the causes of the disappearance of "purpose and effect standard",we find that the identification criteria for "like products" are too subjective,complicated procedures,lack of uniform and applicable identification criteria,and neglect the effectiveness of cases.The last part is about the improvement of the standard for identifying "like products" and Its Enlightenment to China.On the basis of the previous article,this chapter puts forward corresponding measures to improve the existing problems of the identification criteria in order to provide reference for China's participation in world trade,mainly reflected in domestic legislation and participation in WTO dispute settlement.