Recession, Technological Changes and Other Factors as Unforeseen Developments in Safeguard Investigations

Abstract:
The research aims to provide a thorough treatment of legal, economic and policy
issues dealing with safeguard investigations taking into account modern political economy and rapid development of technology. Not only the historical preconditions and modern tendencies, but also suggestions of resolving the problems at issue are observed. The thesis analyses the main WTO legal provisions, the relevant case law and, in particular, Members’ national decisions with especial focus on the arguments regarding the “unforeseen developments” prerequisite. Moreover, the research is beneficial both to exporters and importers as well as state officials due to the compound exhaustive list of standards of adherence to the “unforeseen developments” requirement. The key findings of the paper shall provide an insight on current argumentation and a list of factors potentially acceptable as the “unforeseen developments” for the imposition of the safeguard measures within the meaning of Article XIX of the GATT and Article 2.1 of the Agreement on Safeguards.