{"id":6565,"date":"2016-08-23T16:42:12","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T16:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/masterybusiness2xngcxmasterspring2016\/?post_type=chapter&p=6565"},"modified":"2019-01-05T01:41:25","modified_gmt":"2019-01-05T01:41:25","slug":"reading-evolution-of-the-wto-and-its-role-in-promoting-global-trade","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/chapter\/reading-evolution-of-the-wto-and-its-role-in-promoting-global-trade\/","title":{"raw":"Reading: The World Trade Organization (WTO)","rendered":"Reading: The World Trade Organization (WTO)"},"content":{"raw":"

\"Photo<\/a><\/h2>\r\nIn the post\u2013World War II environment, countries came to realize that a major component of achieving any degree\u00a0of global peace was global cooperation\u2014politically, economically, and socially. The intent was to level the trade playing field and reduce economic areas of disagreement, since inequality in these areas could lead to more serious conflicts. Nations agreed to work together to promote free trade and, with the help of key international organizations like the World Trade Organizations, they entered into bilateral and multilateral agreements.\r\n

GATT: How the World Trade Organization Got Its Start<\/h2>\r\nBefore you begin your\u00a0reading on the World Trade Organization (WTO), take a few minutes to watch the following video that will give you some background on\u00a0General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)<\/strong> and explain how it grew into the WTO we know today. Remember, the world is much smaller today than when your parents and grandparents were growing up, and international trade hasn't always been the norm. After watching the video, consider\u00a0how impossible world trade would be without some type of agreement among nations.\r\n\r\nEnjoy!\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=27J3CByXKow&feature=youtu.be\r\n\r\nAs you saw in the video, what began with one agreement (GATT) eventually evolved into the WTO. In fact, GATT was the only multilateral instrument governing global trade from 1946 until 1995. Given\u00a0the difficulty of trying to regulate trade among more than one hundred\u00a0nations according to\u00a0a single document, it's\u00a0easy to see why\u00a0the WTO came into existence. It became clear to the participating nations that GATT\u00a0was incapable of adapting to an increasingly globalized world economy. Moreover, when the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations was\u00a0launched in September 1986, it marked the largest global effort to structure trade in history. Today, GATT still exists as the WTO\u2019s umbrella treaty for trade in goods, but it's no longer the only legally binding global-trade agreement.\r\n\r\nWhat does the WTO actually do? Among its various functions, the most important are the following:\r\n