Abstract
The term “safeguard” or “safeguard measure” refers to trade measures that are applied to protect domestic industries from competition with imports causing or threatening to cause serious injury to them. Article XIX of the GATT and the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (hereinafter referred to as “the Safeguards Agreement” or “SA”) authorizes Members to impose significant import restrictions designed to remedy or prevent serious injury to domestic industries that is caused by an increase in imports. Such general safeguard measures are to be distinguished from other special safeguard measures, which are either applied only to a specific category of imported product2 or do not require the existence of injury to a particular domestic industry.3
Prof. Y.S. Lee is an academician, lawyer (U.S.A. and U.K) and a former government counsel (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korea). Professor Lee is currently an associate editor of the Journal of World Trade.
For instance, “special safeguard measures” under Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and “transitional safeguards” under Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing are only applicable to agricultural products and textile products, respectively. See chapters 6 and 9 of this book.
The application of import restrictions under GATT Articles XII and XVIII:B (balance-of-payments) and the Uruguay Round Understanding on Balance of Payments does not require the existence of injury to a domestic industry.
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Lee, YS. (2005). The Agreement on Safeguards. In: Macrory, P.F.J., Appleton, A.E., Plummer, M.G. (eds) The World Trade Organization: Legal, Economic and Political Analysis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-22688-5_18
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