PROTECTIONISM IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The research assessed the impact of protectionism in international economic law, underscoring the
challenges and gains of protectionism as a policy aimed at protecting domestic industries against
foreign competition using tariffs, subsidies, import quotas or other restrictions placed on imports
and foreign competitors. However, irrespective of projections of the promoters of globalization, the
global system has witnessed a significant rise in protectionism, engineered by government policies
aimed at shielding domestic industries from foreign competition, economic nationalism, geopolitical
tensions, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. All these have fueled this trend as countries
grapple with the implications of the policies. The research adopted the doctrinal method of academic
research which comprises both primary and secondary sources. The benefits of trade protection in
the world of globalization were evaluated and the research found that trade restrictions are harmful
to the economies of the trading partners, particularly, as nations are most likely to reciprocate with
counter-trade measures which will ultimately lead to a strained international system. It
recommended that the World Trade Organization should develop stricter rules that will govern the
limits nation-states can engage in practicing protectionist policies in order not to harm global trade
and services. The research concluded that excessive protectionism may lead to trade tensions,
geopolitical challenges and raise uncertainties about the future of globalization.