International Trade and Development (LAWS70169)

The objective of this subject is to provide an understanding of contemporary development issues and the relationships between development policies and international trade law in the context of a globalised world economy. The subject reviews some of the most prominent theories of economic development, describes tools and strategies for making development goals achievable, and explores views about the nature of economic prosperity.

Students will undertake a comprehensive examination of development policies:

• from the protectionism of the 1960s to the Post ‘Washington consensus paradigm,
• the crisis facing the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’),
• the emergence of mega regional trading blocks, and
• the current debate on future international trade agreements.

Contemporary trade and development policy issues such the evolution of global value chains (‘GVCs’) and their consequences for free trade agreements, beyond the border regulations, state-owned enterprises (‘STEs’), and inequalities in opportunities and income will be examined from a perspective of international trade law and development policy, using case studies as appropriate. We present the rationales for free trade and protection, the distributional consequences of trade, the impact of trade on employment and growth, and the challenges presented by deeper international economic integration.

In our final sections of the subject we consider:

• the WTO and explore negotiation mechanisms and principles,
• the rules relating to market access, fair trade, safeguards, and the system for dispute settlement and retaliation,
• major issues facing the multilateral trading system, and
• the role of developing countries in building a new international economic architecture.