General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in the United States

PART I

Article I
General Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment

1. With respect to customs duties and charges of any kind imposed on or
in connection with importation or exportation or imposed on the
international transfer of payments for imports or exports, and with
respect to the method of levying such duties and charges, and with
respect to all rules and formalities in connection with importation and
exportation, and with respect to all matters referred to in paragraphs 2
and 4 of Article III, any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity
granted by any contracting party to any product originating in or
destined for any other country shall be accorded immediately and
unconditionally to the like product originating in or destined for the
territories of all other contracting parties.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not require the
elimination of any preferences in respect of import duties or charges
which do not exceed the levels provided for in paragraph 4 of this
Article and which fall within the following descriptions:

(a) Preferences in force exclusively between two or more of the
territories listed in Annex A, subject to the conditions set forth
therein;

(b) Preferences in force exclusively between two or more territories
which on July 1, 1939, were connected by common sovereignty or
relations of protection or suzerainty and which are listed in
Annexes B, C and D, subject to the conditions set forth therein;

(d) Preferences in force exclusively between neighbouring countries
listed in Annexes E and F.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to preferences between
the countries formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire and detached from it
on July 24, 1923, provided such preferences are approved under paragraph
5 of Article XXV, which shall be applied in this respect in the light of
paragraph 1 of Article XXIX.

4. The margin of preference on any product in respect of which a
preference is permitted under paragraph 2 of this Article but is not
specifically set forth as a maximum margin of preference in the
appropriate Schedule annexed to this Agreement shall not exceed:

(a) in respect of duties or charges on any product described in such
Schedule, the difference between the most-favoured-nation and
preferential rates provided for therein; if no preferential rate is
provided for, the preferential rate shall for the purposes of this
paragraph be taken to be that in force on April 10, 1947, and, if
no most-favoured-nation rate is provided for, the margin shall not
exceed the difference between the most-favoured-nation and
preferential rates existing on April 10, 1947;

(b) in respect of duties or charges on any product not described in the
appropriate Schedule, the difference between the most-favoured
nation and preferential rates existing on April 10, 1947.

In the case of the contracting parties named in Annex G, the date of
April 10, 1947, referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of this
paragraph shall be replaced by the respective dates set forth in that
Annex.

Article II
Schedules of Concessions

1. (a) Each contracting party shall accord to the commerce of the other
contracting parties treatment no less favourable than that provided for
in the appropriate Part of the appropriate Schedule annexed to this
Agreement.

(b) The products described in Part I of the Schedule relating to any
contracting party, which are the products of territories of other
contracting parties, shall, on their importation into the territory to
which the Schedule relates, and subject to the terms, conditions or
qualifications set forth in that Schedule, be exempt from ordinary
customs duties in excess of those set forth and provided for therein.
Such products shall also be exempt from all other duties or charges of
any kind imposed on or in connection with importation in excess of those
imposed on the date of this Agreement or those directly and mandatorily
required to be imposed thereafter by legislation in force in the
importing territory on that date.

(c) The products described in Part II of the Schedule relating to any
contracting party which are the products of territories entitled under
Article I to receive preferential treatment upon importation into the
territory to which the Schedule relates shall, on their importation into
such territory, and subject to the terms, conditions or qualifications
set forth in that Schedule, be exempt from ordinary customs duties in
excess of those set forth and provided for in Part II of that Schedule.
Such products shall also be exempt from all other duties or charges of
any kind imposed on or in connection with importation in excess of those
imposed on the date of this Agreement or those directly and mandatorily
required to be imposed thereafter by legislation in force in the
importing territory on that date. Nothing in this Article shall prevent
any contracting party from maintaining its requirements existing on the
date of this Agreement as to the eligibility of goods for entry at
preferential rates of duty.

2. Nothing in this Article shall prevent any contracting party from
imposing at any time on the importation of any product:

(a) a charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with
the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article III in respect of the like
domestic product or in respect of an article from which the
imported product has been manufactured or produced in whole or in
part;

(b) any anti-dumping or countervailing duty applied consistently with
the provisions of Article VI;

3. No contracting party shall alter its method of determining dutiable
value or of converting currencies so as to impair the value of any of the
concessions provided for in the appropriate Schedule annexed to this
Agreement.

4. If any contracting party establishes, maintains or authorizes,
formally or in effect, a monopoly of the importation of any product
described in the appropriate Schedule annexed to this Agreement, such
monopoly shall not, except as provided for in that Schedule or as
otherwise agreed between the parties which initially negotiated the
concession, operate so as to afford protection on the average in excess
of the amount of protection provided for in that Schedule. The provisions
of this paragraph shall not limit the use by contracting parties of any
form of assistance to domestic producers permitted by other provisions of
this Agreement.

5. If any contracting party considers that a product is not receiving
from another contracting party the treatment which the first contracting
party believes to have been contemplated by a concession provided for in
the appropriate Schedule annexed to this Agreement, it shall bring the
matter directly to the attention of the other contracting party. If the
latter agrees that the treatment contemplated was that claimed by the
first contracting party, but declares that such treatment cannot be
accorded because a court or other proper authority has ruled to the
effect that the product involved cannot be classified under the tariff
laws of such contracting party so as to permit the treatment contemplated
in this Agreement, the two contracting parties, together with any other
contracting parties substantially interested, shall enter promptly into
further negotiations with a view to a compensatory adjustment of the
matter.

6. (a) The specific duties and charges included in the Schedules relating
to contracting parties members of the International Monetary Fund, and
margins of preference in specific duties and charges maintained by such
contracting parties, are expressed in the appropriate currency at the par
value accepted or provisionally recognized by the Fund at the date of
this Agreement. Accordingly, in case this par value is reduced
consistently with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary
Fund by more than twenty per centum, such specific duties and charges and
margins of preference may be adjusted to take account of such reduction;
Provided that the CONTRACTING PARTIES (i.e., the contracting parties
acting jointly as provided for in Article XXV) concur that such
adjustments will not impair the value of the concessions provided for in
the appropriate Schedule or elsewhere in this Agreement, due account
being taken of all factors which may influence the need for, or urgency
of, such adjustments.

(b) Similar provisions shall apply to any contracting party not a
member of the Fund, as from the date on which such contracting party
becomes a member of the Fund or enters into a special exchange agreement
in pursuance of Article XV.

7. The Schedules annexed to this Agreement are hereby made an integral
part of Part I of this Agreement.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in the International Business Landscape

Definition of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (gatt) in the context of U.S. international business and public trade policy: A multilateral trade agreement containing guidelines for conduct of international trade based on three basic principles: nondiscriminatory treatment of all signatories in trade matters; eventual elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers to trade; and resolution through consultation of conflicts or damages arising from trade actions of another signatory.