This paper reviews the seventh, or ‘Tokyo', Round of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) negotiations over the institutional arrangements governing world trade. The paper questions the extent to which less developed countries (LDCs) with an interest in substantially increasing their exports of manufactured goods will reciprocate tariff and NTB (non tariff barrier) changes by developed countries. The paper concludes that a realistic hope is that some of the present escape clauses can be formalised in the Tokyo Round and thus become more predictable and less damaging to the affected exporters.