Trade Policy Review and Dispute Settlement at the WTO

Abstract

The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) received much scholarly attention when it was first established in 1989, but has been overshadowed of late by dispute settlement processes. This paper examines the relationship between barriers to trade that are flagged by the World Trade Organization’s TPRM and subsequent challenges brought to the Dispute Settlement Body. Placing the TPRM in correlation to dispute settlement raises a question with significant policy implications: can Trade Policy Reviews be used to predict trade challenges? Such an undertaking requires an analysis of the chronologies of the trade policy review process and of the dispute settlement system. Using an empirical method for cross-referencing issues flagged by the TPRM and challenges brought to the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, the paper seeks to assess the efficacy of Trade Policy Reviews for predicting the future of trade litigation between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Keywords: Trade Policy Review, Canada, United States, Mexico, NAFTA, Trade, Economic Integration, International Economic Law, WTO, Dispute Settlement

JEL Classification: F02, F13, F15, K33, K41