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This chapter argues that the critical potential of human rights as a tool for transforming global economic governance has so far been partially but significantly undermined by the tendency of many participants on all sides of the trade and human rights debate to adopt the essentializing, or reifying, discursive mode characteristic of the language of coherence. The first section sets out the basic reasons why founding a vision of reformed global trade governance on the idea of ‘coherence’ can miss the mark, and perhaps even make a genuine re-imagining of contemporary forms of trade governance more difficult to achieve. The second offers three illustrations of reformative projects inspired by this normative vision, and suggests that their limited success so far can be traced in part to the underlying logics identified in the first section.

Transnational governance initiatives increasingly face the problem of regime complexity in which a proliferation of regulatory schemes operate in the same policy domain, supported by varying combinations of public and private actors. The literature suggests that such regime complexity can lead to forum-shopping and other self-interested strategies which undermine the effectiveness of transnational regulation. Based on the design principles of experimentalist governance, this chapter identifies a variety of pathways and mechanisms which promote productive interactions in regime complexes. We use the case of the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) initiative, interacting with private certification schemes and public legal timber regulations, including those of third countries such as the US and China, to demonstrate how an increasingly comprehensive transnational regime can be assembled by linking together distinct components of a regime complex.

There is a gap between global and regional trade governance. FTAs require deeper liberalization and their subject matter coverage is broader. They generally have (but do not constantly use) detailed rule-based dispute settlement mechanisms (DSMs). The WTO has a more comprehensive scheme for negotiation rounds for further liberalization and for establishing new rules; but the operation of negotiation rounds is not effective. It is desirable to bridge the gap to make them mutually supportive. For regional trade governance, suggestions include widening the geographic coverage of FTAs to make them more plurilateralized and adopting rules to allow periodic ‘internal negotiation rounds’ to remove the residual trade barriers. For global governance, it suggests relying on treaty interpretation to introduce external values into the multilateral system and allowing WTO DSMs to address preliminary issues arising from external norms (such as labour and environmental protection) so as to integrate them into the WTO’s operation.

Theory on how developing countries gain leverage at international trade emphasizes the importance of ‘coalitions’. This chapter examines the strategies pursued by India and Brazil in the latest rounds of World Trade Organization negotiations, focusing on discussions in Bali (2013) and Nairobi (2015). This chapter comes to terms with the fragility of ‘emerging powers’ alliances, examining the ability of India and Brazil to advance common projects in multilateral negotiation and bilateral trade cooperation. A decade ago a resurgence of key developing countries led many scholars to suggest a rebalancing in the politics of global trade governance. A more critical view on the reach of rising powers’ influence is presented, showing how areas for developing countries cooperation today no longer hinge on broad political coalitions or terms of tariff reduction, but micro-level policy issues regarding local food stocks policies, regulatory practices, and intellectual property.

Historically, development has not been at the core of the multilateral trade regime. The multilateral trade system did not incorporate development concerns until the Doha Development round, which paradoxically has since its launch in 2001 contained the seed of its own failure, given the focus on development it was supposed to embrace. This chapter looks at the major aspects of the trading system and its relations to development. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) evolved over time in its treatment of developing countries, changing the use of special and differential treatment (S&D). An imbalance in rule making became evident with the results of the Uruguay Round agreements and its implementation costs, with debate moving from the concept of S&D to creating space for discussing development policy. Some reflections are offered on the current governance challenges the World Trade Organization (WTO) faces today.

Transnational private regulation has brought reforms to forests and factories but rarely of an empowering or transformative kind. This chapter draws out normative implications of the research in this book and highlights paths toward improvement. While not dispensing with supply-chain scrutiny altogether, the chapter calls for revising the rating of corporate responsibility, re-centering the state, and shifting toward “place-conscious” transnational governance. Some elements of this approach can already be seen in a new transnational timber legality regime, which has the potential to overcome the limits of private sustainability standards. The chapter explains the rise of this regime and considers the possibilities for extending the legality framework to labor.

That countries will act in their sovereign economic interest is a foregone conclusion. That this is a function of various factors driving domestic economic policy goals is also an immutable factor that governs a country’s negotiating priorities. This chapter explores how country interests in the area of trade negotiations are being manifested in an increasing choice for moving towards plurilateral agreements. At the same time, the ideal of the WTO multilateral trade agreement cannot be substituted by any of the bilateral or plurilateral free trade agreements. This chapter examines this changing landscape of trade agreements and assesses the challenges it presents.