Is the Doha Round Over? The WTO's Negotiating Agenda for 2016 and Beyond

4 Pages Posted: 27 May 2016

Date Written: February 11, 2016

Abstract

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) most recent Ministerial Conference took place last December in Nairobi, Kenya. Opinions vary on how much was achieved, and, perhaps more importantly, where the WTO goes from here. The United States and the European Union have emphasized that “new” issues and approaches should guide WTO negotiations in the future. But it is not clear what that means, and how it relates to the “old” issues and approaches. And with the rise of mega-regional trade negotiations, such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), there are serious questions about the WTO’s role as a negotiating forum for trade liberalization.

This paper reviews the current WTO negotiating agenda and the Nairobi outcomes, discusses possibilities for new directions, and makes suggestions for the WTO going forward.

Keywords: WTO, Doha Round, trade liberalization

JEL Classification: P33, P45, Q27, F1, F13

Suggested Citation

Lester, Simon, Is the Doha Round Over? The WTO's Negotiating Agenda for 2016 and Beyond (February 11, 2016). Cato Institute Free Trade Bulletin No. 64, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2784917

Simon Lester (Contact Author)

Cato Institute ( email )

1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001-5403
United States

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