Asymmetric Power Relations and International Trade Law

Abstract

The connection of the African continent to the colonial past has become a matrix structure fostering the peremptory design of the former colonial powers. The thread that runs through the book is that like the colonial legal construct, the multilateral trading system is asymmetrical as promoted by the core, led by the United States and Britain. Similarly, the bilateral trade agreement between the core and peripheral countries is steeped in colonial relics, which perceived the latter not as an equal but as a client, who needs constant guidance without their contribution to the mode of direction. As a result, the enthusiasm for the idea of embedded liberalism in the multilateral trading system is not shared by many because it failed to take into account the peripheral group; who, on account of their lack of capacity and poor infrastructure, have not taken advantage of the exceptions provided in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade/World Trade Organization law. Free trade compromise has brought about the pugnacious economic disparity between developed and developing countries.