Decoding Cancun: Hard Decisions for a Development Round

Publication Date: August 2003

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Scott Vaughan; Sandra Polaski; George Perkovich; John Audley

Research Area: Trade

Type: Brief

Abstract:

Following the riotous 1999 meeting in Seattle, and a near failure in Doha in 2001, the World Trade Organization dedicated the current round of trade liberalization talks to "development." Negotiators will meet in Cancun, Mexico, in September amid competing claims regarding what steps are necessary to make trade serve development goals. The catch phrases of international trade--"comparative advantage," "the development round," "trade not aid," and "level playing field"--hide tough choices for both developing and developed country governments. Getting trade rules right is not sufficient for development, but getting them wrong can cripple it. The authors outline the policies that governments and international institutions will need to avoid a debacle at Cancun and to assist developing countries in achieving long-lasting growth.