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The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a multilateral treaty that governed international trade in goods. It aimed to promote free trade by reducing tariffs and other barriers and by ensuring nondiscriminatory treatment among members.

Signed in 1947 in Geneva and entering into force in 1948, GATT provided a provisional framework for postwar trade cooperation. Through a series of negotiation rounds, tariff levels were lowered and new disciplines added, culminating in the Uruguay Round of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Its core principles include most-favored-nation treatment, national treatment, binding tariff concessions, transparency, and the pursuit of liberalization through negotiated rounds. The framework also allowed for special and differential treatment for developing countries and emphasized predictability and binding commitments.

In 1995, the GATT framework was brought into the World Trade Organization (WTO) as GATT 1994. The WTO superseded GATT as the primary global trade authority, while the GATT rules governing trade in goods continue to apply as part of the WTO’s legal framework.

Dispute settlement under GATT evolved into the structured WTO system, with panels and an appellate mechanism that issue binding rulings. By tying together tariff reductions, nondiscrimination, and transparent rules, GATT helped shape the modern architecture of global trade.