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OTTAWA – Warns that the status quo at the World Trade Organization "is no longer viable" and that the multilateral trading system is under threat, US allies pledged Thursday to address the shortcomings of the institution.
While the two-day meeting in the Canadian capital was prompted by the Trump administration's WTO complaints, its participants from 12 countries and the European Union did nothing to acknowledge Washington's fundamental grievance : Limits imposed by the WTO to limit the disruptive practices of the Chinese market. WTO members present agreed to address some areas of concern, with officials proposing to discuss proposed reforms at a meeting in January.
The WTO judicial system was the main focus of the meeting. The 13 participants called for a resolution of US measures that threaten to cripple the organization's dispute settlement mechanism and effectively kill the global trade watchdog. But the parties offered no concrete action.
"We are looking for a fully functioning WTO that benefits everyone," said the participants in a joint statement.
In addition to the European Union and host Canada, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland were among the participants. Neither the United States nor China, the two largest economies in the world, have been invited.
Canada said it had decided to limit participation to so-called middle powers, believing that it was the best way to find consensus on the path of reform. Canadian Trade Minister Jim Carr said at a news conference that he intended to inform his American and Chinese counterparts of what had been discussed in Ottawa.
"We have to talk to the United States for obvious reasons. The United States said they were not happy with the WTO, Carr said. He added that the United States had "no blame or shame" during the two days of talks. "Everything was looking to the future to find points of consensus that we could build on."
The Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment.
This statement is unlikely to satisfy Washington and further worsens the situation of US officials, as the document appears to ignore many US complaints about the WTO, particularly the way it treats China, and to accuse more Mr. Trump than the tensions threatening the body.
For example, the statement said countries were "deeply concerned" by an American veto preventing the appointment of new judges to the WTO's commercial court, and called for the lifting of the veto. The WTO legal system, which governs trade disputes in Geneva between its 164 members, could end in 2019 due to the retirement of judges, unless the United States decides to end the stalemate. appointments.
In that statement, countries said they were aware of the concerns raised by the WTO dispute settlement process, and that they "are ready to look for solutions". The United States has complained of the commercial courts that do not follow the basic rules of the WTO and do not give sufficient respect to the sovereign trade policies of the member countries.
Nor does the statement refer to US complaints that the current WTO rules are not equipped to deal with the distortions caused by Chinese capitalism, including government subsidies to its industries and enterprises. . This is in contrast to a separate WTO reform effort that Japan and the European Union – the two signatories of Thursday's declaration – have launched with the United States, which advocates changes to rule over these practices. Chinese.
-Emre Peker contributed to this article.
Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected] and Jacob Schlesinger at [email protected]
