TRIMS and the trade deficit

Beneficiary of wealth

The global production structure is made up of an interrelated set of bargains, agreements, rules, laws and institutions that are intended to bring countries closer to each other in a more harmonious relationship.  So say those who support the policy of free trade and who believe that the individual must be the beneficiary of wealth acquired through foreign trade.  One of those bargains or agreements is the trade-related investment measures, or TRIMS, as it is referred to for short.  For a long time, foreign trade has been the centrepiece of the relationship between countries.  But countries who signed onto the TRIMS Agreement in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) decided to give up some control over how foreign investment should behave when in the country.