U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai outlined in a recent speech some of the reforms the U.S. wants to see at the World Trade Organization.
Tai affirmed U.S. support for the WTO but said it has “rightfully been accused of existing in a bubble, isolated from reality and slow to recognize global developments.” In addition, she said, there is “a growing sense” that the WTO’s work in recent years is “not grounded in the lived experiences of working people.”
She therefore urged the WTO to refocus on the goals of raising living standards, ensuring full employment, pursuing sustainable development, and protecting and preserving the environment, which are among the objectives in the organization’s founding agreement. As an initial step, she said, WTO members should strive to reach agreement at this year’s ministerial meeting on issues such as easing trade in COVID-19 vaccines, trade facilitation to address supply chain challenges, and eliminating fisheries subsidies.
However, Tai said, it is widely recognized that the WTO needs broader reforms as well. The organization’s monitoring function should be the starting point. WTO committees deliberate issues and monitor compliance with agreements, which Tai said is “a unique and underappreciated asset of the WTO.” Increasingly, however, members “are not responding meaningfully to concerns with their trade measures,” and committee procedures should therefore be updated to improve monitoring work.
Tai also called for “bringing vitality back to the WTO’s negotiating function.” She noted that the organization has not concluded a fully multilateral trade agreement since 2013 and said a key stumbling block “is doubt that negotiations lead to rules that benefit or apply to everyone.” Reforms should therefore include work to “change the way we approach problems collectively, improve transparency and inclusiveness, and restore the deliberative function of the organization.” Tai’s comments might be seen as supporting a change allowing agreements to be finalized if a majority, rather than all, WTO members agree.
Tai added that reforms to the WTO’s dispute settlement process are “intimately linked” with a revitalization of the negotiating function. The original objective of this process was to “facilitate mutually agreed solutions” between members, but instead “WTO members have discovered that they can get around the hard part of diplomacy and negotiation by securing new rules through litigation.” In addition, the process has become “prolonged, expensive, and contentious” and is thus “out of reach for many – perhaps the majority – of members.”
As a result, Tai said, reforming this process is not about “restoring the Appellate Body for its own sake” or “going back to the way it used to be.” Instead, work should focus on “revitalizing the agency of members to secure acceptable resolutions” and providing “confidence that the system is fair.” She said the U.S. is not prejudging “what a reformed system would look like” and instead wants to discuss the matter further with other members.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai outlined in a recent speech some of the reforms the U.S. wants to see at the World Trade Organization.
Tai affirmed U.S. support for the WTO but said it has “rightfully been accused of existing in a bubble, isolated from reality and slow to recognize global developments.” In addition, she said, there is “a growing sense” that the WTO’s work in recent years is “not grounded in the lived experiences of working people.”
She therefore urged the WTO to refocus on the goals of raising living standards, ensuring full employment, pursuing sustainable development, and protecting and preserving the environment, which are among the objectives in the organization’s founding agreement. As an initial step, she said, WTO members should strive to reach agreement at this year’s ministerial meeting on issues such as easing trade in COVID-19 vaccines, trade facilitation to address supply chain challenges, and eliminating fisheries subsidies.
However, Tai said, it is widely recognized that the WTO needs broader reforms as well. The organization’s monitoring function should be the starting point. WTO committees deliberate issues and monitor compliance with agreements, which Tai said is “a unique and underappreciated asset of the WTO.” Increasingly, however, members “are not responding meaningfully to concerns with their trade measures,” and committee procedures should therefore be updated to improve monitoring work.
Tai also called for “bringing vitality back to the WTO’s negotiating function.” She noted that the organization has not concluded a fully multilateral trade agreement since 2013 and said a key stumbling block “is doubt that negotiations lead to rules that benefit or apply to everyone.” Reforms should therefore include work to “change the way we approach problems collectively, improve transparency and inclusiveness, and restore the deliberative function of the organization.” Tai’s comments might be seen as supporting a change allowing agreements to be finalized if a majority, rather than all, WTO members agree.
Tai added that reforms to the WTO’s dispute settlement process are “intimately linked” with a revitalization of the negotiating function. The original objective of this process was to “facilitate mutually agreed solutions” between members, but instead “WTO members have discovered that they can get around the hard part of diplomacy and negotiation by securing new rules through litigation.” In addition, the process has become “prolonged, expensive, and contentious” and is thus “out of reach for many – perhaps the majority – of members.”
As a result, Tai said, reforming this process is not about “restoring the Appellate Body for its own sake” or “going back to the way it used to be.” Instead, work should focus on “revitalizing the agency of members to secure acceptable resolutions” and providing “confidence that the system is fair.” She said the U.S. is not prejudging “what a reformed system would look like” and instead wants to discuss the matter further with other members.
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