To mark the signing of the GATT in 1947, a UN press release announced: "There is no parallel to this achievement in any previous trade negotiations, all of which have been on a more limited scale. The completion of such a large number of simultaneous negotiations of such broad scope in a little over six months is in itself a remarkable feat."

How the Agreement came into being

The lead negotiators profoundly disagreed on the level of ambition to be achieved by the negotiations but finally overcame their profound differences.

• Clash of the GATT negotiators
• GATT 1947: How Stalin and the Marshall Plan helped to conclude the negotiations
• GATT 1947 and the grueling task of signing
• 1947 press release announcing the signing of the GATT
• PIIE’s Trade Talks podcast: Happy 70th GATTiversary—The Origins of Multilateral Trade