Rules are fair if they favor the weak over the strong. The ‘one-size-fits-all’ prescription of eliminating trade barriers across countries regardless of their economic strength puts less competitive countries at a disadvantage. Free trade plays into the hands of the strong. De-rigging the rules is therefore not sufficient for a fair trading system. Instead, weaker economies need to receive special and differential treatment that privileges them in both the governance of imports and the access to foreign markets with respect to stronger economies. Just as in golf weaker players are granted extra strokes (a ‘handicap’) for a given course to allow players of different proficiency to play against each other on equal terms, in a fair trading system weaker trading partners are given allowances that are not available to the stronger ones.

 

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