The sixth round of GATT multilateral trade negotiations, which took place from 1964 to 1967. It was named after U.S. President John F. Kennedy in recognition of his support for the reformulation of the U.S. trade agenda, which culminated in the Trade Expansion Act in 1962. This legislation has given the president the greatest bargaining power of all time. A deal can be easier to get through compromise – somewhere in the package, there should be something for everyone. Since 1995, GATT has been replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO), a multilateral body at the same level as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It is working to deepen the process of trade liberalization between nations so that it can contribute more broadly to boosting global economic growth. Its objectives include liberalizing agricultural trade, abolishing protectionism measures other than tariffs and quotas, and strengthening mechanisms for resolving trade disputes between nations. It is also working to broaden its scope to trade services, capital flows and technological transport, as well as environmental measures related to global trade.
It is hoped that this new entity will create a stable legal basis for trade relations between all countries and revive global economic growth, taking into account new trends in open trade, globalization and competitiveness between nations. This first round of negotiations resulted in a set of trade rules and 45,000 tariff concessions covering $10 billion in money, or about one-fifth of the world. The group had been expanded to 23 until the agreement was signed on October 30, 1947. Tariff concessions came into force on June 30, 1948 through an interim implementation protocol. This is how the new general agreement on tariffs and trade with 23 founding (officially contracting) members was born. The initial intention was to create a third institution that would ensure trade in international economic cooperation and to join the two Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. More than 50 countries participated in negotiations to establish an International Trade Organization (ITO) as a UN special agency. The ITO`s draft charter was ambitious. It extended beyond the disciplines of world trade and included rules on employment, commodity agreements, restrictive trade practices, international investment and services.
The aim was to create the ITO at a UN conference on trade and employment in Havana, Cuba, in 1947. The Uruguay cycle began in 1986. It was the most ambitious cycle to date that hoped to extend GATT`s jurisdiction to important new areas such as services, capital, intellectual property, textiles and agriculture.
