Trade Liberalisation Essay

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Recommended: World trade organisation short note

Trade liberalisation is the reduction or elimination of trade barriers within countries in a bid to enhance and encourage exchange of goods (Rivoli, 2014). The trade liberalisation involves the removal or reduction of barriers or tariff such as surcharges and duties, and non-tariff obstacles such as licensing requirements and quotas (Rivoli, 2014). In economics, trade liberalisation is meant to promote economic development, growth, and prosperity. Trade liberalisation is one of the major goals of World Trade Organisation (WTO) (Rivoli, 2014). This paper will critically look into contemporary political problems that affect the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in achieving its goal of trade liberalisation.
Background of World Trade Organisation …show more content…

The organisation was formed in April 1994 after an agreement between 123 countries in Marrakech Morocco (Narlikar, Daunton, and Stern, 2012). The organisation began to operate officially as a global organisation in 1995 following the guidelines of the Marrakech Agreement signed by the 123 countries in 1994 (Narlikar, Daunton, and Stern, 2012). The organisation replaced the former organisation, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), that had been deemed ineffective in promoting global trade policies since its inception in 1948 (Narlikar, Daunton, and Stern, 2012). Currently, World Trade Organisation (WTO) boasts of having 162 member countries (Narlikar, Daunton, and Stern, …show more content…

The idea of the goal was to have countries engage in trade with minimal barriers (Ravenhill, 2014). The spirit of the goal was to enable countries to interact economically and transact trading activities without any problem (Ravenhill, 2014). However, political instability has done negatively in promoting trade liberalisation. The political instability limits or eliminates the chances of countries transacting or conducting trade (Ravenhill, 2014). The important aspect of trade liberalisation is that many traders in the member countries can interact and share ideas among themselves. This interaction between the business people in the participating countries has over the years enhanced the economic growth and development in the participating countries (Ravenhill, 2014). Democratic Republic of Congo became a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1997 (Ravenhill, 2014). However, series of political instability has affected its trading practises with other members. The country is a developing country with a lot of economic potential, but its political instability has over the years affected its implementation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) policies and regulations (Ravenhill, 2014). Tunisia is another example of how political instability can affect trade liberalisation goal of World Trade Organisation (WTO) (Feenstra, and Taylor,

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