Termites in the Trading System

Preferential Trade Agreements, many taking the form of Free Trade Agreements, now number over 300 and are rapidly increasing. In this new book, leading economist Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how these agreements have recreated the unhappy situation of the protectionist 1930s, when world trade was undermined by discriminatory practices (today, ironically, as a result of a misdirected pursuit of free trade). The world trading system is definitely at risk again, the author
argues, and the danger is palpable. Indeed, PTAs have created a chaotic system of preferences that has destroyed the principle of non-discrimination in trade.