Wto Shrimp And Turtle Case Study Essay

Case Study 2: WTO Shrimp Turtle Case The growing struggle between international trade and environmental protection in the United States became very apparent in the 1990’s with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) ruling in the Shrimp/Turtle case. Besides the Asian countries and the United States, the two main parties involved in this case seem to be the conflict between the environmentalist and the free trade advocates. The environmentalists push for products that limit damage done to the environment and in this case, they believe that the U.S. laws restricting imports from countries that are not using environmental friendly harvesting techniques is in their rights and is one of the few ways to bring about global environmental improvements. The free trade advocates believe that the limitations on other countries and using trade leverage should be shut down because it not only will dampen global economic expansion but also, in the long run, will reduce environmental protection. The underlying problem in this case is the continually narrowing gap of movement space that the WTO allows when it comes to environmental expectations, especially those involving free trade. By exploring the details of Shrimp/Turtle case, the narrow scope of the WTO and the GATT …show more content…
Although the United States lost the case, it brought the turtle issue to the front page, and other countries began making it a priority. The WTO recognized the importance of the Endangered Species Act, and in return the National Marine Fisheries Services has made great leaps in increasing its efforts to aid all shrimpers in installing these turtle excluder devises into their equipment. Although the case failed, in the long run, it was turned into a success and may be the reason for the turtles not going