The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) entered into force as a rules-based system for lowering tariffs and reducing discrimination in trade. It became the main forum for multilateral tariff negotiations after World War II. This long-running framework set the stage for later rounds such as the Kennedy Round.
The Dillon Round ended with thousands of tariff concessions, but it also showed that tariff bargaining was becoming more complex with the European Economic Community’s common external tariff. The limited size of the cuts helped build support for a more ambitious next round. This momentum fed directly into planning for the Kennedy Round.
The United States enacted the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, giving the president expanded authority to negotiate significant tariff reductions. This new authority was designed to support large-scale reciprocal bargaining with major trading partners. It became a key legal and political foundation for U.S. participation in the Kennedy Round.
At a ministerial meeting in Geneva, the GATT Trade Negotiations Committee formally opened the Kennedy Round. Participants aimed for large, broad-based tariff reductions on industrial goods and began tackling selected non-tariff issues. The round’s scale and participation reflected growing global economic integration.
Unlike earlier item-by-item bargaining, the Kennedy Round pioneered an across-the-board ("linear") method for cutting tariffs on industrial products. This approach aimed to simplify negotiations and produce broader, more even reductions. It also influenced how later trade rounds organized tariff talks.
GATT members signed a protocol to add Part IV, a new section focused on trade and development concerns. It emphasized that developed economies should give high priority to reducing barriers affecting developing-country exports. This broadened the Kennedy Round era’s agenda beyond tariffs alone.
After sufficient acceptances, Part IV became legally effective within the GATT system. This helped institutionalize development-focused principles in the multilateral trading rules. The change shaped expectations for how future rounds would address the needs of developing economies.
The Kennedy Round produced the first detailed GATT anti-dumping code, aiming to discipline how countries investigate and respond to alleged “dumping” (selling exports at unfairly low prices). WTO history notes the code entered into force in 1967 but had limited practical impact because key countries, including the United States, did not sign it. Even so, it marked an important step toward later, stronger anti-dumping rules.
By mid-May 1967, participants reached agreement on the essential elements of the Kennedy Round results, clearing the way for final legal and technical drafting. Governments emphasized that industrial tariff cuts would average over 35% among major trading countries. This moment marked the practical conclusion of the bargaining phase.
Press coverage reported that negotiators agreed to cut tariffs by an average of about 35%, with reductions to be phased in over time. The reporting also underscored the large number of products covered and the political importance attached to the deal. This helped frame the Kennedy Round as a major postwar tariff-cutting achievement.
In June 1967, participating countries signed the Kennedy Round’s Final Act, completing the sixth GATT negotiating round. The results included major industrial tariff reductions and separate agreements on grains, chemical products, and an anti-dumping code. The outcome reinforced GATT’s role as the central institution for global trade bargaining in the postwar order.
The final agreement was signed on June 30, 1967—timed to fit within the negotiating authority period set by the U.S. Trade Expansion Act. This deadline mattered because it shaped U.S. leverage and the push to close the deal. The date also became a clear endpoint for the round’s formal completion.
Kennedy Round (1964–1967)