GATTCHA! GATT and the Erosion of Labor Rights and Environmental Standards

In contrast with the headlines generated by the original GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) controversy of two years ago, the news from Geneva on January 17 made barely a ripple; small items in the business pages reporting that a three-judge panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) had ruled in favor of Venezuela and against the United States in a dispute involving Venezuelan gasoline. For three years, the U.S. government had barred Venezuela’s state refiner from shipping a product high in smog-producing “aromatic” chemicals to East Coast service stations. The WTO’s judges ruled that this country acted unfairly in demanding that Venezuelan gasoline meet the same average purity standard as gasoline refined domestically. Although the arguments were technical, the up-shot is that the United States can ignore the riling, appeal it, or allow the Venezuelan gasoline to be sold.

“Aromatic” is actually a good word for the predicament ...