They do not have as much impact on economic growth as a multilateral agreement. WTO rules take into account bilateral and regional agreements, although non-discrimination is one of its fundamental principles – and even the WTO says that “these agreements are inherently discriminatory, because only its signatories enjoy more favourable conditions of access to the market.” 8 According to the WTO, bilateral and regional trade agreements are considered exceptions because of their legitimate role in facilitating trade – as long as they respect certain rules, do not erect barriers to third parties, and complement rather than replace the WTO system. Some regional trade agreements are multilateral. The most important was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), ratified on January 1, 1994. Nafta quadrupled trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1993 to 2018. The U.S.-Mexico Agreement (USMCA) came into force on July 1, 2020. The USMCA was a new trade agreement between the three countries, negotiated under President Donald Trump. At the global trade level, some WTO member states intend to advance negotiations on new areas, such as facilitating cross-border investment, when the WTO Ministerial Conference meets in December 2017. Others seem to be working to: revive the Doha Global Round, which has eluded the conclusion for more than 15 years.6 On the bilateral front, for example, talks were initiated in May 2017 for a free trade agreement between Australia and Australia, following the conclusion of a free trade agreement between China and Australia in December 2015 , the two agreements being presented as complementary7. disrupting global trade and dismantling trade networks that destroy trade networks that destroyed commercial networks. characterized the previous century.

The new wave of protectionist barriers prompted the newly created League of Nations to hold the first world economic conference in 1927 to outline a multilateral trade agreement. Nevertheless, the agreement would have little impact, as the onset of the Great Depression triggered a new wave of protectionism. The economic uncertainty and extreme nationalism of that time created the conditions for the outbreak of the Second World War. The first source of uncertainty is that major agreements – such as the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership (RCEP) – have shown a trend “once again, abroad.” On the other hand, the number of preferential trade agreements allowing members to access a more favourable market has increased, with bilateral free trade agreements being concluded in addition to major international trade negotiations. Since mid-2017, more than 250 preferential trade agreements have entered into force with two or more countries1. Some businesses and parts of the country are suffering from the disappearance of trade borders. While the GATT aimed to promote tariff reduction between Member States and thus lay the groundwork for multilateral trade expansion, waves of regional trade agreements intensified over the next period. In less than five years after the creation of the GATT, Europe, with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, would begin a programme of regional economic integration which would ultimately become what we know today as the European Union (EU).