Research On Non-reciprocity In The Multilateral Trading System

Multilateral trading system is facing profound governance dilemma.The WTO system represented by institutionalization and mechanism is the highest stage of the development of multilateral trading system.This rule-based governance system is also facing multiple crises and challenges from inside and outside of the system.The treatment of developing countries is one of the focal issues of the reform promoted by WTO members around the dilemma of WTO governance.The developed members led by the United States oppose the self-identification of developing country identity,refuse to grant developing country treatment to some emerging economies,and demand to reshape the free trade order on the premise of reciprocity.The essence of the treatment of developing countries is the non-reciprocity problem in the multilateral trading system.The governance dilemma of non-reciprocity reflects the crisis of the governance structure of the multilateral trading system,and further aggravates the structural imbalance.Solving this problem is the key point of promoting the process of WTO reform and rule modernization.Non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system is a systematic concept of a trinity from idea to institution and then to specific rules and provisions.The governance dilemma of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system is correspondingly reflected in its different levels of theoretical basis,institutional system and the validity of provisions.At the level of theoretical foundation,the concept of non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system is the product of the non-reciprocity idea interweaving with the evolving multilateral trade system.The concepts of reciprocity and non-reciprocity themselves have the problems of incomplete theoretical system and unclear defining content.The complexity,variability and vagueness of this set of concepts not only adds obstacles to the theoretical analysis of reciprocity and non-reciprocity,but also makes it difficult to analyze non-reciprocity governance in multilateral trade system and promote the improvement of non-reciprocity institution.In addition,the legal basis for non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system remains unclear.If the legal basis of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system is not fully demonstrated,it will be difficult to provide legitimacy for the improvement of the non-reciprocity insitution,and it is also difficult to refute the relevant views that demand to weaken or even cancel the non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.At the level of institutional system,non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system is not clearly defined,the standard is not perfect and the subject is not clear.So far,non-reciprocity and reciprocity in the multilateral trading system have been separated from each other,and the WTO system has not established a sufficiently mature non-reciprocity governance mechanism that can reflect the development needs of members.In terms of specific provisions,the non-reciprocity clauses in the multilateral trading system have the problem of lack of effectiveness: the special and differential treatment clauses lack legal binding force,the transitional period clauses do not provide sufficient implementation period,the flexibility clauses do not guarantee the necessary policy space,and the enabling clause does not limit the additional conditions of the GSP.The above problems are the most direct embodiment of the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity and reflect the gap between the existing internal governance of WTO and the multilateral trade governance with full legitimacy.The root cause of the governance dilemma of the non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system is structural.The structural imbalance of multilateral trading system runs through different historical development stages of ITO-GATT-WTO,and reciprocity and non-reciprocity have become an important part of the multilateral trade rules system in these processes.The non-reciprocity in the multilateral trade system has undergone a transformation from the non-reciprocity of undertaking obligations to the non-reciprocity of fulfilling obligations,and then to the "less than full reciprocity" of the Doha Development Round,showing a development trend from "isolated non-reciprocity" to "exceptional non-reciprocity" and then to "mainstream non-reciprocity".Accordingly,reciprocity in the multilateral trading system has experienced a development trend from "reciprocity" to "specific reciprocity",from "rules-based reciprocity" to "outcome-based reciprocity",from "first-difference reciprocity" to "status quo reciprocity",which forms a counter force to the evolution of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.The asymmetric driving forces of developed and developing members are promoting the evolution of reciprocity and non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.The evolution results of reciprocity and non-reciprocity affects the driving forces of WTO members in reverse,forming a mutual interaction between reciprocity and non-reciprocity,developed member and developing member.Under the current system,the conflicts between members’ power,interests and values have torn apart the specific internal relations between reciprocity and non-reciprocity.The reciprocity in the multilateral trade system is the key regulatory elements in the hierarchical governance structure The concept of non-reciprocity is the reflection of the hierarchical structural inequality.It interferes with the chain of rules serving power,breaks the monopoly of western developed countries on rules,and leads to the rejection and suppression of developed country members led by the United States.Facing the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,WTO members should actively promote the improvement of the non-reciprocity institution.Non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system can play a positive role in protecting members’ rights of the equal participation and democratic decision-making,maintaining members’ right of trade policy regulation,promoting the substantive fairness of trade income distribution,and coordinating the interests of the community in international society.It can strengthen the democracy of rule formation,resolve the crisis of WTO rule making,and promote the implementation of the idea of the right to development in the multilateral trading system.However,the improvement of the non-reciprocal system in the multilateral trading system does not mean the negation of the reciprocity principle,nor does it mean the subversion of the existing liberal international economic order.Developing countries do not have the power to completely change the culture and institutions in existing international economic and trade system.Radical reform will lead to the marginalization of the developing countries themselves.In order to improve the non-reciprocity institution in the multilateral trading system,it is necessary to deal with the relationship between non-reciprocity and reciprocity principle including equivalent opening up,and to coordinate the interest differences between developed and developing members behind the reciprocity and non-reciprocity.First of all,it is necessary to establish an operation mechanism of non-reciprocity under the inclusive principle of reciprocity to ensure equal participation of WTO members in non-reciprocal negotiations,so as to remedy the deficit of governance and development of WTO,and realize the sharing of interests and responsibilities of WTO members.Secondly,non-reciprocity should be promoted as the third pivot of the rules in multilateral trading system.In fact,the current multilateral trading system is based on the fairness advocated by the United States as the value orientation,the diffuse reciprocity as the norm,and the specific reciprocity and unconditional most-favored-nation treatment as two pivots of multilateral trade rules.Non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system should complement and coordinate with specific reciprocity and unconditional most-favored-nation treatment to jointly serve the diffuse reciprocity constituted multilateralism and shape a more inclusive value of fairness.In this process,attention should be paid to the role of emerging economies in promoting the improvement of non-reciprocity institution,and the sensitive issues of "graduation" and "classification" of developing countries should be replaced by differentiated allocation of rights and obligations of members,so as to achieve comprehensive and systematic improvement of non-reciprocity from concept to institution and to rules.This paper is divided into five chapters to carry on the detailed demonstration and elaboration to the above content.Logically,it can be divided into three parts: theoretical basis,explanation of the crux and institution improvement.The first chapter expounds the basic issues of reciprocity and non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system.The purpose is threefold.First,reciprocity is the logical basis of non-reciprocity.To properly understand non-reciprocity,the basic connotation of reciprocity must be clarified.Second,it systematically clarifies the reciprocity and non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,and resolves the confusion in the academia about the concepts of non-reciprocity and reciprocity for a long time.Thirdly,in a multidisciplinary context,the basic connotation and orientation of non-reciprocity in multilateral trading system should be established to lay a theoretical foundation for exploring the dilemma of non-reciprocity governance and improving the system.In order to achieve this goal,this chapter mainly starts from three lines to sort out the basic problems of reciprocity and non-reciprocity.The first line explains the general meaning and differences in translation and understanding of "reciprocity" in academia,and analyzes the connotation of reciprocity from economics,sociology,legal philosophy and other disciplines,focusing on the definition of reciprocity and reciprocity in international law.And on the basis of reciprocity,it makes a comprehensive interpretation of the word "non-reciprocity".The second line explains reciprocity and non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.At the level of rules,it reveals the origin of reciprocity in American domestic law and sorts out the specific forms of reciprocity demonstrated as specific reciprocity and unconditional most-favored-nation treatment.At the level of principle,it is clear that reciprocity principle should have the characteristics of diffuse reciprocity,which is similar to the reciprocity under the background of sociology.On this basis,the chapter analyzes the non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,distinguishes the non-reciprocity in the narrow sense and the broad sense,sorts out the forms of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,distinguishes the two confusing concepts of non-reciprocity and special and differential treatment clause,non-reciprocity and WTO exceptions,and comprehensively clarifies the relationship between non-reciprocity and reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.The third line analyzes the reciprocity and non-reciprocity in regional trade agreements and contrasts them with the reciprocity and non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system,which is conducive to forming a systematic understanding of the basic issues of reciprocity and non-reciprocity,and exploring the development trend and driving force of reciprocity and non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system.The innovation of this chapter lies in the comprehensive and systematic explanation of reciprocity and non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system under the multi-disciplinary background.In addition,the concept spectrum from different dimensions is helpful to clarify the understanding of the basic connotation,characteristics and mutual relations of different concepts such as "specific reciprocity","reciprocity" and "non-reciprocity".Chapter two analyzes in detail the evolution of non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system from its emergence to development.The analysis of this evolution is of great significance to the analysis of non-reciprocity in multilateral trading system.On the one hand,this chapter summarizes the development of non-reciprocity and reciprocity longitudinally from the time clue of historical development,and combines it with the horizontal analysis of non-reciprocity and reciprocity in the previous chapter to form a comprehensive and profound understanding of reciprocity and non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.On the other hand,only by clarifying the evolution of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system can better judge the development trend of non-reciprocity in the future,as well as the current problems and causes of non-reciprocity.In this chapter,the evolution from emergence to development of non-reciprocity in multilateral trading system is analyzed in detail along three clues.The first clue clarifies the theoretical schools and development process of development economics and provides the corresponding theoretical origin and explanation for the evolution of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.The second clue reviews the historical practice of the emergence and development of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,which is a true portrayal of developing countries’ efforts to participate in the multilateral trading system.Since the emergence of non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system,it has experienced a transformation process from non-reciprocity of undertaking obligations to non-reciprocity of fulfilling obligations,and then to the "less than full reciprocity" of Doha Development Round.In the post-Doha period,developed and developing members have launched a fierce battle over the subject,mode and scope of non-reciprocity.The third clue correspondingly explores the reverse evolution path of reciprocity.Under the influence of developed members led by the United States,the reciprocity in the multilateral trade system also experienced a development trend from "specific reciprocity" to "reciprocity",from "rule-based reciprocity" to "outcome-based reciprocity",from "first-difference reciprocity" "status quo reciprocity".Free trade shows a shift towards fair trade and managed trade,accompanied by the prevalence of unilateralism,which forms a counter force to the non-reciprocal evolution in the multilateral trading system.The innovation of this chapter lies in that,by sorting out the evolution of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,it summarizes and predicts the paradigm of non-reciprocity evolution marked by three key stages.That is,the development process from "isolated non-reciprocity" to "exceptional non-reciprocity" to "mainstream non-reciprocity".This process is the result of summing up the experience and lessons of developing countries participating in the multilateral trading system,and it also reflects the evolution of the multilateral trading system along the direction of development and progress.Chapter three demonstrates the legal basis of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trade system from three aspects in order to solve the problem of unclear legal basis of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trade system.The arguments around the legal basis of non-reciprocity is the premise to discuss the dilemma and reform of non-reciprocity in multilateral trading system,and refutes the views that demand to weaken or even cancel non-reciprocity in multilateral trading system.So far,discussion on the legal basis of non-reciprocity in academia has mostly focused on the normative value at the moral level,and there is a lack of systematic analysis on the jurisprudence of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system from a legal perspective and methodology.Therefore,this chapter firstly starts from the basic principles of international economic law and discusses the relationship between non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system and the principle of national economic sovereignty,the principle of fairness and mutual benefit and the principle of global cooperation.Secondly,considering the substantive connection between trade and development issues,this chapter also explains the necessity of promoting the construction of non-reciprocity institution in the multilateral trading system from the perspective of the right to development,and demonstrates how non-reciprocity will promote the realization of the right to development in the multilateral trading system.As a combination of collective and individual human rights,the theoretical basis provided by the right to development can supplement the basic principle system of international law and respond to the development trend of "humanism" increasingly displayed in modern international law.Finally,the discussion about the jurisprudence cannot avoid the issue of the legitimacy of law.This chapter further strengthens the legal basis of non-reciprocity through the justification of non-reciprocity in multilateral trade system.From the perspectives of input legitimacy and output legitimacy,this chapter explains and justifies the non-reciprocity in a relatively comprehensive way,and analyzes the promotion effect of non-reciprocity on the legitimacy of rule governance in the multilateral trade system.This chapter not only demonstrates the jurisprudence of non-reciprocity from the positive side,but also refutes the main opposition opinions and viewpoints of western political and academic circles to non-reciprocity from the negative side,laying a theoretical premise for further strengthening non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,promoting the development of non-reciprocity from the edge to the core and enhancing the development orientation of multilateral trade rules.Chapter four analyzes the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity and its structural causes in the multilateral trading system.The purpose is to find the crux of the governance dilemma such as the lack of effectiveness of clauses and immature governance mechanism of non-reciprocity,so as to lay a solid foundation for improving the non-reciprocity institutional arrangements in the future and enhancing the development-oriented and inclusive nature of the multilateral trading system.This chapter analyzes the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system from two different levels.Firstly,in terms of specific rules and provisions,this chapter analyzes relevant WTO cases to reveal the lack of effectiveness about transitional time period,flexibility and enabling clause during the process of application.At the level of mechanism,it points out that the orientation of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system is not clear,the standard is not perfect and the subject is not clear,indicating the gap between the existing WTO internal governance and the level of multilateral trade governance with full legitimacy.The existing research results in the academia are insufficient to analyze the causes of the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system.The root cause of the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity is structural.From its emergence to its development,the multilateral trading system continues to face structural tension between reciprocity and non-reciprocity.The innovation of this chapter lies in the in-depth excavation of the institutional structure root of the governance dilemma of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,exposing the struggle for dominant power of trade rules behind the tension between reciprocity and non-reciprocity,indicating the mutual interaction between reciprocity,non-reciprocity and the driving force of developed and developing members.This chapter also analyzes the roles of reciprocity and non-reciprocity in the hierarchical governance structure of WTO.To sum up,how to define the position of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system and respond to the structural root of the dilemma of non-reciprocity governance is the key to the success of WTO reform and rules modernization in the future.Chapter five mainly discusses how to improve the non-reciprocity institution in the multilateral trading system.The purpose of improving the non-reciprocity institution in the multilateral trading system is to further enhance the legitimacy of WTO internal governance,bridge the interest differences of WTO members,resolve the structural crisis under the liberal hegemonic order,and promote the realization of WTO reform and modernization of rules.The first part of this chapter makes an empirical analysis on the negotiation practice of improving non-reciprocity institution in the Doha Round.The reform proposals put forward by the developing countries in the Doha Round have not fully solved the governance dilemma and crux of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system at all levels of rules,mechanisms and principles,especially failed to correct the structural imbalance that caused the non-reciprocity governance dilemma.Although the Trade Facilitation Agreement contains innovation elements on non-reciprocity,due to the unique nature of the trade facilitation issue itself,the model is not sufficiently replicate.The practical exploration of the transformation from "exceptional non-reciprocity" to "mainstream non-reciprocity" ended in failure.The second part of this chapter puts forward the basic path for the improvement of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system on the basis of considering the governance dilemma and causes of non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system,combined with the experience and lessons in the previous practice of institutional improvement: namely building a operating mechanism of non-reciprocity under the inclusive principle of reciprocity and promoting non-reciprocity as the pivot of multilateral trading rules.In this process,special attention should be paid to the role of emerging economies in promoting the improvement of non-reciprocity institution and the sensitive issues of "graduation" and "classification" of developing countries should be replaced with differentiated allocation of rights and obligations of members.The third part put forward the specific strategy to improve the non-reciprocity institution on the basis of the basic path planning.The establishment of "two-tier decision-making mode" of "reciprocity and non-reciprocity" will help to implement the idea of constructing an operating mechanism of non-reciprocity under the inclusive principle of reciprocity.The rule-oriented non-reciprocity standards will promote non-reciprocity as the pivot of multilateral trade rules and realize the differential allocation of rights and obligations.The establishment of a supervision mechanism on non-reciprocity in multilateral trading system can not only strengthen the legal binding force of non-reciprocity clauses,but also help to prevent the abuse of power by members.The combination of the basic ways and specific strategies to improve the non-reciprocity in the multilateral trading system will help realize the comprehensive and systematic improvement of the non-reciprocity from the concept,to the institution,and then to the rules.In a word,the rules-based WTO governance system needs to solve problems on non-reciprocity from the level of theory,to institution and then to rules.The improvement of non-reciprocity institution will help promote the effective operation of multilateral trading system,enhance the development orientation of multilateral trade rules,fill the gap of development,governance and rules in WTO system,provide an effective breakthrough for the reform and modernization of WTO rules,and also provide legal guarantee for China to promote the new development pattern of domestic-international dual cycles which are mutually promoted.