The multilateral trading system is at a cross-roads. Current trade tensions are another reflection of the quest for a solution to the problem of how to regulate trade between ‘market economies’ and ‘planned’ or ‘controlled economies’, i.e. economies with a more substantial degree of state influence. This contribution considers whether the EU’s new non-standard methodology and the new State-Owned Enterprise disciplines in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership may provide a starting point for new discussions in this regard. Although WTO panels and the Appellate Body can delineate the limits of current disciplines, the solution to the problem will have to be negotiated between the major trading powers of this era.
Global Trade and Customs Journal