Apromising aspect of the global trade agenda that was launched at Doha last November was the agreement to revisit the rules about when countries may slap on temporary protection against imports. The World Trade Organisation allows several types of protection: safeguards against import surges, countervailing duties against subsidised goods, and duties against foreign products deemed to have been dumped on local markets. These rules have long been misused as a cover for protectionism. Before Doha, America, in particular, was not keen to revisit them. The administration's change of heart, therefore, was welcome progress. Yet since then, ever more examples show how so-called trade remedies are proliferating, with pernicious effects. The prospects for reform are fading.
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