The post-1945 global trading system was designed around the principle of non-discrimination. During the 1947–94 GATT era, regionalism and multilateralism were often viewed as antagonistic approaches to international trade, and preferential treatment within regional blocs was to be deterred. Since 1995, although regional trade agreements are monitored by the WTO Secretariat and presented as a threat to the system, regionalism poses little threat to the multilateral trading system. This paper argues that major twenty-first century RTAs go beyond preferential tariff treatment to focus on deeper integration issues. Such issues are addressed outside the WTO because, despite new features of the international trade map since 1995 such as Internet use and global value chains, extension of WTO rules has proved difficult due to the requirement for consensus. The paper analyses the rise of megaregional agreements such as CPTPP and RCEP, the shift in EU policy from protecting domestic producers to facilitating imports from best global suppliers and the use of WTO plurilateral agreements within the context of providing rules fit for purpose in the modern global trading system.

中文翻译：

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“区域主义”与全球贸易体系

1945 年后的全球贸易体系是围绕非歧视原则设计的。在 1947-94 年 GATT 时代，区域主义和多边主义经常被视为国际贸易的对立方式，区域集团内的优惠待遇将被阻止。自 1995 年以来，尽管区域贸易协定受到 WTO 秘书处的监督并被视为对该体系的威胁，但区域主义对多边贸易体系的威胁不大。本文认为 21 世纪的主要区域贸易协定超越了优惠关税待遇，而将重点放在更深层次的一体化问题上。这些问题在 WTO 之外得到解决，因为尽管自 1995 年以来国际贸易版图有了新的特征，例如互联网使用和全球价值链，但由于需要达成共识，WTO 规则的扩展被证明是困难的。