The World Trade Organization is the successor to which trade agreement?

• A. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
• B. North American Free Trade Agreement
• C. World Bank Agreement
• D. Tokyo Round Accord

Answer: (A)

The World Trade Organization functions as the formal umbrella for multilateral trade rules that built on the framework created after World War II. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade began in 1947 as the primary set of rules and negotiations to reduce tariffs and expand free trade. Over several rounds of talks—most notably the Uruguay Round—the regime expanded to cover more areas and established a binding dispute-settlement system. In 1995, the WTO was created to replace GATT as the institutional home for these rules and to broaden them to services, intellectual property, and a stronger enforcement mechanism. So, the WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The other options don’t fit: NAFTA is a regional trade pact among three countries, the World Bank is a development lender, and the Tokyo Round was a negotiation under GATT rather than a successor organization.