An Examination of U.S. Insurance Regulation and Taxation vis-�-vis Selected GATT Principles

The United States has been instrumental in the movement to liberalize international trade. Services, including insurance, were included for the first time in the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Further liberalization efforts are evidenced by U.S. support for free trade agreements, such as the Canada/U.S. Free Trade Agreement. This paper examines U.S. insurance regulatory and tax policy in light of selected GATT fair trade principles. Overall, the U.S. insurance market can be characterized as open and fair to non-U.S. interests, although several aspects of the market might be inconsistent with fair trade principles.