Research On The WTO "Security Exception" Clause In The Background Of Sino-US Trade War

Since 2017,The United States(hereinafter referred to as “US”)President Donald Trump has set off trade frictions between China and the US which escalated into a trade war.In this trade war,apart from using Sections 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 as investigation tools,Trump has also used the long-standing Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which serves the purpose of “protecting national security” to impose economic sanctions against China.When invoking Section 232,the US often hides behind the World Trade Organisation(hereinafter referred to as “WTO”)“security exception” clause to justify its action.Being one of the many exceptions in the WTO rules,the “security exception” clause has existed as early as in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(hereinafter referred to as“GATT”)era.Historically,GATT was a gentlemen's agreement that was rarely being invoked.However,in recent years,due to the global economic downturn and other reasons,some WTO members began to abuse the flaws existed in this clause to their own advantage.This has gravely defeated the purpose and object of the WTO.Therefore,there is an urgent need to study the reasons behind such abuse as well as the possible mechanism to prevent such abuse.This paper comprehensively adopts textual research method,historical research method,and comparative research method.Based on the WTO “security exceptions” clause and the relevant documents,the problem of this clause being easily abused as a consequence of the difficultly in determining the meaning of several key expressions in its terms will be analysed.Then,this paper will put forward the suggestion to prevent such abuse.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this paper consists of the following four parts:The first part is an overview of the WTO “security exception” clause.It comprises of two subtopics.The first subtopic is the analysis of the establishment and historical evolution of the WTO “safety exception” clause as well as the background and purpose of its establishment.The second subtopic is the study of the relationship between the WTO “safety exception”clause and the US-China trade war.After reviewing the course of the US-China trade war,it is predicted that the US will increase the application of Section 232 in future trade frictionsbetween China and the US.The second part is the theoretical analysis of the WTO “security exception” clause.It first analyses the terms of the clause,finds the root of its abuse based on its terms and then analyses the problems caused by the uncertainty of the clause.Finally,it analyses the members' right to self-determination on the clauses,which is a vital reason of it being abusedThe third part discusses the non-compliance of the “Section 232 investigation” by the US under the WTO “security exception” clause.It comprises of the essential difference between“national security” and “basic security interests”,the analysis of the difference between the logical premise of the “Section 232 investigation” and the true construction of the “security exception” clause.Finally,it analyses the objective of “Section 232 investigation” and pointing out that its objective is of trade protectionism.The fourth part provides the prevention strategy for the abuse of the WTO “safety exception” clause.Based on the foregoing discussion,this part puts forward the proposition on how to deal with the abuse that we are facing.First,we need to define national security interests.Secondly,we need to establish general restrictions.Then,we have to make use of the basic principles of international law to expose the wrongdoings of the members.Finally,the WTO disciplines can be strengthened from the perspective of the WTO reform,thereby achieving the effect of preventing the clause from being abused.The conclusion section summarizes the full text as follows:The WTO “security exception” clause is now in a state of being abuse.The reasons being are due to internal and external causes.The internal reasons mainly include the indeterminable meaning of its expressions such as: “it considers”,“basic security interests”,“necessary”,“wartime or other emergency situations in international relations”,etc.The external reasons are mainly the slow economic development of some countries,some members have the motives of using the “security exception” clause to implement trade protectionism while the WTO general exception is strictly restricted.Consequently,some members began to abuse the “security exception” clause.In this case,we need to make use of the WTO Dispute Settlement System to define the above mentioned concepts when it is dealing with a case,thereby establishing general restrictions to eliminate the possibility of members to fully self-determine the “security exception” clause.Lastly,we can use the basic principles of international law to expose the conduct of the related members.In the end,we can also utilise the reformation of the WTO to add footnotes on the above mentioned terms toclarify their meaning and introduce additional provisions to overcome the new crisis such as the neglected cybersecurity risks which may endanger the national basic security interests.By doing so,the problem could be solved from its root.