Export Restrictions in the Post-COVID World: Another Step in the Demise of the World Trade Organization (Review of Chien-Huei Wu, Law and Politics on Export Restrictions)

Abstract

Since their inception, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has focused on dismantling import trade restrictions and paid little attention to export restraints. As Chien-Huei Wu’s book, Law and Politics on Export Restrictions, explains, most modern export restrictions in the United States can be traced not to the GATT/WTO but to Cold War concerns over regulating East West Trade. Today, the United States has increasingly used national security interests to justify both export and import restrictions on its trading partners, especially China. The future development of export restrictions will likely occur outside of the GATT/WTO, already under attack by the United States, and could help accelerate its demise.

Keywords: GATT, WTO, Import tariffs, exports, national secuirty

JEL Classification: K33