MYANMAR
The Myanmar Times-June 29
Nowadays, everybody who is somebody talks about tariffs. The word comes from somebody in the United States, somebody in China or somebody in Europe. The word simply implies some sort of customs duty imposed on imports. However, when politicians start using it as an intimidating weapon or tool of vengeance, it gets complicated and, well, homely.
When one nation attempts to commence using tariffs as a protectionist tool against mounting imports, it should remember that there is GATT and its offspring, the WTO. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT, was the brainchild of the United Nations, and its noble intention was to promote international trade by taking away or at least reducing trade barriers. After a series of agreements in the major cities around the world, GATT created the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995.
First published in: The Myanmar Times
