Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. Critical Issues for the Uruguay Round

摘要

The developed countries, but not the developing countries, subscribed to a provision in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that prohibits export subsidies to products other than primary products. The prohibition did not lead to the disappearance of export subsidies. But, under GATT rules, subsidies may be subject to countervailing duties if they cause, or threaten, injury to the importing country. The original GATT rules on subsidies and countervailing duties were interpreted in the Code on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, adopted in the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. The application of the Code has not stemmed the flow of subsidies. Dissatisfaction has led to the review of subsidies and countervailing measures in the framework of the Uruguay Round negotiations. The present volume aims to provide assistance to the negotiators in the performance of their task. It contains the papers presented at the Workshop 'Subsidies and countervailing measures: critical issues faced in the Uruguay round,' held in Montreux, Switzerland on February 13-14, 1989. (Copyright (c) 1989 The World Bank.)