Doha round / Governments should remove trade barriers unilaterally

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"The conclusion for trade ministers and their heads of government should be clear. The only two kinds of trade liberalisation that regularly and predictably have significant effects are unilateral (do-it-yourself) and multilateral (get everyone to do it)."

From Multilateral muscle needed for Doha deal, by Financial Times editorial board (Financial Times, 3 January 2007) (view)

"Economic analysis has found repeatedly that the benefits from removing trade barriers unilaterally are vastly greater than from negotiating them away – even when negotiations succeed. That is no mere theory. China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Chile and, to a lesser extent, India have put it into practice and reaped rich economic dividends."

From Do-it-yourself is free trade’s best ‘plan B’, by Guy de Jonquières (Financial Times, 23 August 2006) (view)

"Obviously, the U.S. government is not the only party at fault here. Europe, too, has been loath to open its cultural and agricultural industries to competition. But we don't need permission from Brussels to reduce our farm subsidies and other trade-distorting policies. Indeed, most Americans would benefit from the change."

From Doomsday for Doha, by Jesse Walker (Reason, 28 July 2006) (view)