GLOBAL SUBSIDIES INITIATIVE

The WTO and Subsidies

For most of last century, governments had a great deal of leeway in deciding who they could give subsidies to and how much they could give. The growth in international trade in the latter part of the 20th century, and the emergence of the World Trade Organization, brought about a momentous change in subsidy policy. Governments realized that their benefits from trade agreements they’d signed to lower tariffs and free trade would be lost if other members were allowed to freely subsidize companies or industries.

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