Economic tradecraft is a set of duties, responsibilities and skills required of diplomats working in economic affairs. It is a key instrument in the diplomatic tradecraft toolbox. As is the case with their colleagues in the political career track, economic officers work both at diplomatic missions abroad and at headquarters. On the surface, it may appear that a country’s economic and commercial diplomats do the same type of work abroad, but that is not quite the case. Economic officers inform policymaking at headquarters by monitoring and analyzing economic trends and developments in the receiving state. They also advocate for host-government policies aimed at leveling the playing field for companies from the home country and against regulations that hurt those businesses. Commercial diplomats directly help industries and individual companies in starting or expanding business and investment in the host country. Conversely, they facilitate investment by local firms in the home country.

This chapter looks at women’s representation in multilateral trade negotiations within the context of the overall goal of achieving more gender-sensitive outcomes in trade policy. Although trade negotiations have increased in scope and scale, this has not resulted in a concomitant increase in the representation of women as experts, negotiators and diplomats. The expansion and more complex nature of trade negotiations puts greater pressure on developing nations, especially on smaller delegations, as illustrated by data from the diplomatic missions to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization in Geneva. The chapter discusses the current structure and challenges of trade negotiations, highlighting both the challenges of the career and the changing character of persons engaged in trade negotiations. Lastly, the chapter draws attention to the distinction between women participating in trade negotiations and having the interests of women reflected in trade negotiation outcomes. This distinction is particularly important if one wants to place trade policy in the context of the overall societal movement towards gender equality. In its conclusion, this chapter sets out a list of actionable advice to improve the current situation to facilitate greater contribution of trade negotiations to global gender equality.

China’s rise has precipitated a crisis within the multilateral trading system.W hile frequently attributed to China’s model of state-sponsored capitalism, this chapter shows why that framing of the problem is misleading.T he primary complaints that the US and others have about China’s trade policy are not, in fact, unique to China, but common features of the developmental state.I nstead, I argue, the more fundamental challenge to the trade regime arises from the China paradox – the fact that China is both a major economic heavyweight and a developing country.C onflict over how China should be classified and treated under global trade rules has paralyzed global trade governance and led to a breakdown in rule-making.I n addition, China’s rise has sharply constrained the US’s “institutional power” – its power over the institutions and rules governing trade – leading to an erosion of American support for the multilateral trading system it once created and led.

At the heart of the multilateral trading system is the commitment to nondiscrimination, the most-favored-nation (MFN) principle, mandating that all nations participate on equal terms. Added to this are a series of obligations to limit government interventions in trade. To give assurance that the system will deliver what it promises, transparency is required, making clear to all the measures that affect trade. Reality diverges from the ideal.

Negotiations at the WTO have produced too few results during the more than quarter-century of the Organization’s history. Until some results were reached at MC12, most of the action had been among groups of like-minded members, either regionally outside the WTO or in open plurilateral agreements (OPAs) at the WTO, and these contain much of the promise for the Organization. Additional challenges require multilateral – that is, global – agreements: the pandemic, food security, and climate change among them. A breakthrough is needed to make the WTO a more productive venue for reaching new agreements.

China’s rise has transformed the global politics of agricultural subsidies, which is among the most controversial issues in the trading system. China has emerged as the world’s largest subsidizer, upending the entrenched understanding of agricultural subsidies as a harm perpetrated by the Global North upon the Global South. From a North-South battle, WTO negotiations on agricultural subsidies have been transformed into a conflict centered on the US and China. The US, as the world’s largest agricultural exporter, is eager to restrain China’s subsidies and insists that it will only agree to stricter rules on its own subsidies if they also apply to China. But China has refused, insisting that as a developing country, it should be exempt from any new restrictions on subsidies. The US has been unable to force China to accept disciplines on its subsidies, leading to a stalemate. While reducing trade-distorting subsidies remains a pressing concern for developing countries, efforts to negotiate new and strengthened disciplines at the WTO have been paralyzed by an impasse between the two dominant powers, heavily shaped by the hegemonic rivalry between the two states. China, along with the US, is now blocking pro-development reform of the trading system at the WTO.

This chapter provides a comprehensive introduction to the World Trade Organization. It considers WTO agreements in the areas of trade in goods, trade in services, and intellectual property. It analyzes the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. An appendix looks at tariff rate reduction formulas.