International trade and shipping

The general trend towards industrial trade liberalization began after the Second World War, with multilateral negotiations under the GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Transport). This liberalization was stimulated by :

• the creation of the common market in Europe ;

• German reunification and the disappearance of communist regimes;

• regional free-trade agreements, including Mercosur, which brings together Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in Latin America, and NAFTA, which brings together the United States, Canada and Mexico in North America.

It has been spreading to developing countries since the early 1980s, as a result of liberalization policies imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of debt crisis...