Competition policies for an integrated world economy

During the second half of the twentieth century, competition policy has been accorded an increasingly prominent role in the policy portfolios of industrialized nations. Since the late 1940s, when twenty-three nations ratified the first General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), tariff barriers have been progressively reduced throughout much of the industrialized world.

The final Uruguay Round negotiations extended GATT's reach to agriculture, services, and intellectual property and clarified policies toward other aspects of trade. While great progress has been made, much remains to be done to integrate the world economy in the 21st century.

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In this book, part of the Brookings Integrating National Economies series, F. M. Scherer explores the three-way interaction among competition policy, national trading and investment strategies, and international trade policies. Focusing on four nations - the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan - he surveys the evolution over two centuries of national trading and competition policies and the points at which they come in conflict.

Attempts to harmonize them through multilateral institutions, such as the European Union, are examined.

The principal intersections between competition and trade policies are analyzed in depth. Scherer shows how export and import cartels have effects similar to traditional tariff barriers and how restraints implemented to settle trade disputes induce cartelization.

Also investigated are the substantially different rules governing price discrimination under trade laws and competition policy, how vertical restraints such as exclusive dealing and resale price maintenance serve as import barriers, and the conflict between industrial policy and competition policy goals as nations choose whether to encourage or restrict mergers.

Scherer offers recommendations for substantive and procedural improvements at the interface between trade and competition policies. He proposes a new set of international competition policy institutions that combat avoidable restraints while respecting the need for national sovereignty.