WTO Deputy Director-General Defends Organization's Relevance
The World Trade Organization remains relevant and important, said Alan Wolff, deputy director-general of the WTO, in a Council on Foreign Relations blog post. Wolff's defense came in response to a provocative piece by CFR's Edward Alden that said the WTO's role was further diminished by President Donald Trump's Section 232 tariffs. While there are serious issues with the appeals system, the WTO has seen progress in negotiations, Wolff said. Two years ago in Nairobi, countries agreed to create a trade facilitation agreement, ban agricultural export subsidies and expand the information technology agreement (see 1512220018). He also pointed to e-commerce as an area of progress at Buenos Aires, but little was agreed to then (see 1712130048).
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Alden said that if the EU challenges steel tariffs at the WTO, there is no good option for the body. If the arbiters agree that the U.S. was justified, it will allow "countries to restrict imports however they choose as long as they cry 'national security.'" If the U.S. loses, Alden predicts it will ignore the ruling and continue the tariffs. "The WTO was a lovely promise of a more rational, predictable, and fairer global economic order. Its death should be mourned," he wrote.
Wolff did not address those specific scenarios, but said "steel issues can be sorted out without the WTO collapsing." Wolff wrote that "Ted Alden is right to sound an alarm ... about the serious risks to the world trading system of major players appearing to embrace conflict over working cooperatively together to deal with real problems, but it is far too early to make arrangements for the WTO’s funeral."