Die WTO: Was nun?

summary The WTO: What Next? The impasse in the WTO trade negotiations gives the opportunity to take a broader look at the range of trade talks that are underway and their relationship to domestic farm policy reform in the US and the EU. The articles in this Special Issue attempt to expand on such linkages. The willingness of the US to follow the path toward less trade distorting domestic programs is one of the keys to reductions in agricultural protection in other countries. The continuation of the process of CAP reform gives the EU the scope to accept tighter controls on domestic subsidies and relax the often high levels of border protection. But success in the WTO talks also makes regional and bilateral trade pacts easier by resolving conflicts over subsidy levels and by lowering tariff levels. And the success of litigants, particularly Brazil, in WTO challenges to US and EU domestic policies has emphasized the extent to which trade agreements have become drivers of domestic reform. However, the pace of such reform is still controlled by national (and EU) legislatures and governments, and this therefore limits the speed of trade negotiations and the acceptability of dispute settlement outcomes.