In The News

Financial Times: Trump Demands End to Asia’s “Chronic Trade Abuses”

Demetri Sevastopulo and John Reed November 10, 2017
In addressing the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam, Donald Trump said the United States would not tolerate chronic trade abuses and he urged fair and reciprocal economic relationships. The talk came after his visit to China, the country that has the biggest trade deficit with the United States. Yet the presidents of both countries flattered each other, and Trump said he did not...

Chatham House: China and the WTO

Wim Muller March 10, 2017
By joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China agreed to dispute settlement processes and compulsory adjudication. “While in other areas, most notoriously the law of the sea, China has been reluctant to accept the decision-making power of international courts and tribunals, its WTO practice has shown that China can accept the jurisdiction of an international judicial body, accept its...

Financial Times: Trump Team Looks to Bypass WTO Dispute System

Shawn Donnan and Demetri Sevastopulo February 28, 2017
The United States is searching for legal ways to impose unilateral trade sanctions against some countries, including China, as faster and more direct alternatives than the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement process. “Since being established in 1995 the WTO has become the pre-eminent venue for resolving trade fights between member countries, which its proponents say has helped prevent...

Project Syndicate: The WTO Reborn?

Arvind Subramanian February 23, 2017
The World Trade Organization, a multilateral trade group with 164 members, has been marginalized in recent years due to increasing preference for bilateral and regional deals, explains Arvind Subramanian, chief economic adviser to the government of India in an essay for Project Syndicate. He points to three developments that could prompt the world to reconsider multilateralism and revive the WTO...

Brexit Success Hinges on Global Goodwill

Simon Nixon August 17, 2016
British leaders’ cautious approach to Brexit demonstrates the challenges of withdrawing from tightly integrated trade. Analysts anticipate a cost of up to 6 percent of GDP, depending on whether the United Kingdom retains a relationship with the European Union or tries to trade on World Trade Organization terms. A new tariff schedule on WTO terms would require consensus of 160 members including...

Global Trade Conflict Looms Over China's Market Status

Guy de Jonquieres January 29, 2016
Trade tensions rise as China, the United States and the European Union quarrel how far each can go with anti-dumping measures to prevent exports at low prices to control markets, reports Guy de Jonquieres for Nikkei Asian Review. “Anti-dumping laws, which are employed by many countries, including China, are a glaring exception from world trade rules that prohibit governments from unilaterally...

Trade Talks Lead to “Death of Doha and Birth of New WTO”

Shawn Donnan December 21, 2015
Members of the World Trade Organization committed to a global ban on agriculture export subsidies, with some exceptions. The WTO also signaled a move toward incremental changes as member states did not reach consensus on reaffirming the Doha round – a broad attempt underway since 2001 to reduce trade barriers and poverty for the world’s poorest nations. Shawn Donnan, writing for Financial Times...