Up until the Uruguay round, the GATT focused primarily on reducing tariffs for manufactured goods, as this was the primary concern for the major traders. As a result, tariffs that had made up on average over 40 per cent of the import value of goods in 1947 were reduced to 3 per cent by 2000. This is a dramatic reduction in the tariffs over time. Trade barriers had largely been eliminated from the international trade of industrial goods. The reduction of tariff barriers was consideredto be a strong causal factor in the growth of international trade.