Among restrictions on imports, safeguard measures are particularly controversial in that they are invoked in the absence of any unfair trade practice. Safeguards interfere substantially with the normal stream of trade, and their improper application undermines the objectives of the WTO. Recent WTO cases have brought the attention of trade lawyers to the absence of comprehensive materials on this complex subject, and highlighted the need for a reliable guide to the WTO rules on safeguards. Dr. Y.S. Lee, perhaps the world's foremost authority on safeguard measures, has provided such a guide, here updated in its second edition.
Readers may expect from this book comprehensive coverage on safeguards to date with legal analysis of the important issues in the interpretation and application of the current rules on safeguards. The author also proposes modifications to enhance and clarify the discipline of safeguards. The crucial issues raised include the following:
- economic and political justifications of safeguards;
- applicability of GATT Article XIX;
- interpretation and application of the Agreement on Safeguards, including non-discriminatory application of safeguards and justification of safeguards-in-response;
- transitional product-specific safeguard measures against China; and
- emergency safeguards to trade in services.
The focus of the book is on the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, as interpreted by WTO Panel and Appellate Body reports in key cases, including Korea Dairy Products, Argentina Footwear, United States Wheat Glutten, United States Lamb Meat, Chile Price Band System, United States Line Pipe and United States Steel Products. Dr. Lee summarizes the various key findings and provides lucid and well-balanced analysis of these reports. Other WTO rules considered include GATT Articles XIX, XII, and XVIII; the Understanding on Balance of Payments of the GATT 1994; the Agreement on Agriculture; the Agreement on Textile and Clothing; Article XII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); and the Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China.
Safeguard Measures in World Trade comes at a time when safeguard measures continue to mount in various parts of the world and a possible domino effect can destabilize the international trading system. It will be of inestimable value to government officials, trade lawyers, international business people, and academics in trade law and related fields.
