Title：An Exploration of Domestic Regulatory Barriers to International Trade and Their Solutions

Author：Qingjiang Kong

Abstract：Conflicts over domestic regulation are a major cause of trade friction, and the behind-the-border non-tariff measures still pose a trade barrier that plagues international trade. This paper critically analyzes the limited discipline imposed on domestic regulation and the implied cooperation within the WTO framework. The paper applies CETA, USMCA, and CPTPP as case studies to examine the emerging regulatory cooperation mechanisms in regional trade agreements (RTAs). It suggests that while regulatory cooperation can effectively mitigate the constraints of diverse regulatory measures on international trade within the scope of regional agreements, setting multilateral discipline for domestic regulation is the most effective solution to comprehensively remove domestic regulatory barriers. The development of the Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation marks a significant step in the right direction. However, until major trading nations are willing to limit domestic regulation, cooperative approaches remain an alternative.

Keywords：Regulatory Cooperation, Good Regulatory Practices (GRP), Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), Behind-the-border Non-tariff Measures, Multilateral Regulatory Discipline