History and Significance of the Uruguay Round Negotiations and Agreements

烏拉圭回合談判與協定的歷史與意義

溫漢(Gilbert R. Winham)

《Taiwanese Journal of WTO Studies》 4期 (2006/08) Pp. 1-55

https://doi.org/10.30392/TJWTOS.200608_(4).0001

摘要

烏拉圭回合(Uruguay Round)談判為二次世界大戰後於關稅暨貿易總協定（簡稱GATT或關貿總協）架構下的第八次多邊貿易協議。自1950年代歐洲經濟共同體成立後，共有三回合多邊貿易談於關貿總協下舉行。 第一回合是1963年至1967年的甘迺迪回合談判(Kennedy Round)，起因為美國政府為因應歐洲共同體成立造成的影響。1973年至1979年的東京回合(Tokyo Round)談判是因應美國決定放棄布萊敦森林(Bretton Woods)體制下的黃金美元固定匯率政策。這兩回合談判皆起因於強國的大規模政策轉變。 與此相比，烏拉圭回合談判並無相同因素。烏拉圭回合談判面對的是全球經濟衰退與各國對世界經濟成長的不確定感，因此促成烏拉圭回合談判的因素並不如前兩回合明顯，遑論促成最終結論的原因。 本文主旨在探討促成烏拉圭談判啟動的因素以及導致烏拉圭回合談判達成協議的壓力。特別著重於國際體系的因素而非來自特定國家的影響。作者發現烏拉圭回合始於一系列的關切但卻以另一系列的關切結束。該回合啟動的原因是各國一方面面臨世界經濟成長的減慢，一方面體認到貿易議題愈趨重要。而亟待解決的農業、服務業、紡織業等貿易問題以及已開發國家與開發中國家間的關係都已拖到不能再拖的地步。由於各國體認到世界經濟已經全球化，而GATT貿易規範需要做徹底的大翻修以因應已發生變化的國際環境。換言之，烏拉圭回合談判可視為國際成員對此轉變的集體應對措施。在此回合協商過程中，各國決策制訂者似乎皆認知到國際經濟對國內經濟的重要性。因此，可在國際經濟問題與各國處理國際經濟問題間找到連結。 此外，作者亦指出烏拉圭談判就如同克魯曼(Paul Krugman)所宣稱的「政策很少是對所見到的問題給予一貫的回應，而在大多數的情況下，都是團體間談判與磨合的結果。」烏拉圭回合是項擁有眾多議程的極為艱鉅的多邊協商。當然很合理地預期談判結果只不過是權宜交換的廣泛集合，與全球經濟裡運作的較廣泛的勢力罕有關連。至於對政策問題的回應一致性，參與GATT協商者沒有一個人會聲稱協商過程中存在著強而有力的凝聚力。然而即便如此，烏拉圭回合的確產出一些與當時所見到的問題相關的結果，決策者於此回合做出的正確的抉擇。儘管WTO舉步艱難，但是迄今並無對烏拉圭回合協議有所重大的詆毀。

關鍵字

關貿總協 ； 世界貿易組織 ； 烏拉圭回合談判 ； 東京回合談判

並列摘要

The Uruguay Round negotiation was the eighth postwar multilateral trade negotiation conducted under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Its purpose as with other GATT negotiations was to liberalize trade. One might have expected the Uruguay Round, as with other GATT negotiations, to continue the steady movement toward a more open and predictable international trade regime. It did not do this. Instead, the Uruguay Round produced a profound alteration of the trade regime in response to an equally profound transformation of international economic relations. It amounted to system change in the world economy.
The task for this chapter is to examine what factors precipitated the Uruguay Round, and what pressures led to its successful conclusion. This examination is less straightforward than would be the case regarding other negotiations held under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Since the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC, or Common Market) in the late 1950s, there have been three multilateral trade negotiations under GATT auspices. The first was the Kennedy Round of 1963-67. The Round was initiated by the Kennedy Administration in response to the creation of the EEC and the fear that American products would be shut out of an integrated European market. The second negotiation was the Tokyo Round of 1973-79. It was established in the wake of the U.S. decision in 1971 to abandon the Bretton Woods link between the dollar and gold, which created a crisis in the postwar system of fixed exchange rates. As part of this decision, the United States applied a surcharge on imports and demanded international action to address its first trade deficit in the 20th century.

並列關鍵字

GATT ； WTO ； Uruguay Round Negotiations ； Tokyo Round Negotiations