Doubt About the Legitimacy of Unilateral Trade Measures

The establishment of the multilateral trade system within the World Trade Organization(WTO) makes prominent in international law the argument of the legitimacy of unilateral trade measures(UTMs),which does not meet its demise after building the multilateral system.It was expected that the loopholes of unilateral trade measures in international law should have been plugged by way of establishing a multilateral trade framework,esp.the Dispute Settlement Mechanism that serves as a self-reliance legal regime.Unfortunately,while maintaining the purpose and disciplines of the multilateral trade system,the reports of the penal/appellate body of WTO showed a leniency for unilateral trade measures.If we hope that the multilateral trade system will not exist in the shadow of unilateral trade measures,we should take measures to ensure that members of the WTO will not resort to unilateral trade measures that are in detriment to the WTO.