The WTO
safeguard measure takes the form of a suspension of an obligation under the
GATT or the withdrawal or modifications of a GATT concession. When an importing
Member imposes a safeguard measure, it shall endeavour to maintain a
substantially equivalent level of concessions and may agree to compensate the
exporting Member(s) affected by the safeguard measure. The SG Agreement also
stipulates that if no agreement is reached within thirty days, the affected
Member could suspend, under certain conditions, the application of
substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations to the trade of the
imposing Member. It has been rare that the exporting Member and the Member
applying the safeguard agreed to a compensation. At the same time, until 2018,
notifications of suspension of concessions to rebalance the level of
concessions have also been rare. However, suspension of concessions sharply
increased since 2018. This article offers some observations relating to this
recent trend.