Canada has also developed its own share of import restrictions on cereals and dairy and poultry products, as well as export subsidies for certain dairy products and eggs to reduce surpluses. As a result, early GATT exclusions and waivers led to a maze of restrictions on agricultural imports and export subsidies, which have since affected world production and trade in these product lines (see Protectionism). The President`s power to negotiate agreements under fast-track procedures was renewed in 2015 after a period of eight years. But even when this authority existed, some agreements were barely passed by Congress; For example, the CEFTA passed the House with only two votes, and congressional leaders had to keep the vote open for nearly an hour to collect the necessary votes. The rationale for trade agreements has generally been given in terms of promoting U.S. trade interests, but it has been recognized that trade is also important to U.S. foreign policy interests. As President Roosevelt said in his 1945 message to Congress calling for the renewal of the trade agreement, „We cannot build a peaceful world if we do not build an economically healthy world.” [15] (Ironically, the first measure President Roosevelt listed was to „build an economically sound world.” This was never done, and today, outside of the world`s Kilter exchange rate system, it is still the greatest threat to the global trading system.) In addition to facilitating applied tariff reductions, gatt`s early contribution to trade liberalization includes „the immobilization of tariff reductions negotiated for a longer period (more permanent in 1955), the establishment of the generality of non-discrimination through most-favoured-nation (MOST-FAVOURED-NATION) treatment, and the status of domestic treatment, ensuring greater transparency of trade policy measures and the creation of a forum for the future. Negotiations and for the peaceful settlement of bilateral disputes. All these elements have contributed to the rationalization of trade policy and the elimination of trade barriers and political uncertainty. [4] [13] The United States had envisioned an International Trade Organization that would have broad authority over trade policy, economic development, investment, and other elements of trade policy. Although the International Trade Organization was approved by the United Nations in 1949, President Truman withdrew it from congressional approval in 1950 when it was clear that it did not have the votes to pass it. The prosperity of the world economy over the past half century is due in large part to the growth of world trade, which in turn is partly the result of far-sighted officials who launched gatt. They established a set of procedures to bring stability to the business environment, thus facilitating the rapid growth of global trade.
In the long term, the initial GATT conferences helped put the global economy on a solid footing, improving the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Gatt entered into force on 1 January 1948. Since that beginning, it has been refined, which eventually led to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, which absorbed and expanded it. At that time, 125 countries were signatories to its agreements, which covered about 90% of world trade. signed on . . .
