This book critically analyses the World Trade Organization’s approach to "special and differential treatment" (SDT) to argue that it is founded on seeking exemptions from WTO obligations, instead of creating an enabling environment for developing countries to integrate fully into the multilateral trading system. Through six key sections:

• United States Proposal on Special and Differential Treatment


• Responses to United States Proposal


• The Evolution of Differential Treatment


• Failure of the Current Approach to Differential Treatment


• Complications Created by China’s Emergence in the Global Economy


• An Alternative Approach to Differential Treatment

this book explores how, by adopting a new evidence-based, case-by-case approach to SDT, the development of the poorest countries can best be advanced, while at the same time ensuring that advanced developing countries carry their weight in the organization.

It will be of interest to scholars and students of international trade law and political science, as well as trade practitioners such as lawyers, diplomats, and analysts.