The WTO was established in 1995 to increase international trade by lowering trade barriers. There are 151 members as of 27 July 2007. These members include Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, China, Poland, Spain, UK, USA and many more.
Within the WTO, decisions are made by coming to a Consensus - a general agreement - which all the members support. Some of the main purposes of the WTO are:
Ensures that the terms of trade agreements are followed
Settles trade disputes between governments
Conducts trade negotiations.
WTO has the power to enforce Sanctions - economic actions such as trade boycott - to enforce decisions
WTO used this power to resolve disputes in trade between nations
This power has lead to many that oppose the trade liberalization that fosters globalization, targeting the WTO. Thier points consist of:
The WTO has too much power. It can force countries to change their regulations to make them fit into WTO rules
The WTO is not democratically accountable. Hearings on trade disputes are closed to the public and the media
The WTO does not care enough about the problems of developing countries. It has not forced rich countries to fully open their markets to products from developing countries.
The WTO has not done enough about the environment, child labor, worker’s rights, or health care
People that supported the WTO said that the WTO had managed to raise – and would continue to raise- living standards around the world, providing numerous opportunities for ultimately everyone.
The WTO has resolved many disputes throughout its time in power. One example can be a dispute between our home country, Canada, and our neighbor USA.
In 2002 Canada asked the WTO to rule on a longstanding dispute with the US over softwood lumber.
Finally in 2006 WTO ruled in Canada’s favor, removing American tariffs on Canadian lumber and required the U.S to repay almost 80% of the more than 5 billion it had collected in tariffs on lumber imports from Canada
These graphs show the changes that the WTO brought in the world in: Capital
and Employment Rates
Here is a video that strongly opposes the WTO
and here is a short video on the results of WTO protests,
The WTO was established in 1995 to increase international trade by lowering trade barriers. There are 151 members as of 27 July 2007. These members include Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, China, Poland, Spain, UK, USA and many more.
Within the WTO, decisions are made by coming to a Consensus - a general agreement - which all the members support.
Some of the main purposes of the WTO are:
WTO has the power to enforce Sanctions - economic actions such as trade boycott - to enforce decisions
WTO used this power to resolve disputes in trade between nations
This power has lead to many that oppose the trade liberalization that fosters globalization, targeting the WTO.
Thier points consist of:
People that supported the WTO said that the WTO had managed to raise – and would continue to raise- living standards around the world, providing numerous opportunities for ultimately everyone.
The WTO has resolved many disputes throughout its time in power. One example can be a dispute between our home country, Canada, and our neighbor USA.
In 2002 Canada asked the WTO to rule on a longstanding dispute with the US over softwood lumber.
Finally in 2006 WTO ruled in Canada’s favor, removing American tariffs on Canadian lumber and required the U.S to repay almost 80% of the more than 5 billion it had collected in tariffs on lumber imports from Canada
These graphs show the changes that the WTO brought in the world in:
Capital
and Employment Rates
Here is a video that strongly opposes the WTO
and here is a short video on the results of WTO protests,