United States Outlines Principles For WTO Reform

In recent remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai outlined how the United States would prefer to reform the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement system and update the organization’s rules more generally.

As Politico reported, Ambassador Tai did not promise to restore the appellate body that the United States effectively killed several years ago because of concern about judicial overreach. Instead, she said the goals of WTO reform should be to provide “confidence that the system is fair” and revitalize “the agency of members to settle their disputes.”

Specifically, Ambassador Tai called for reforms that:

• Increase transparency;
• Make practical and appropriate alternatives to litigation real options for the entire WTO membership;
• Ensure dispute panels address only what is necessary to resolve the disputes and resist the urge to pontificate; and
• End judicial overreaching and restore policy space so members can regulate and find solutions to their pressing needs, such as tackling the climate crisis or defending their workers’ interests from non-market policies.

Politico also noted that, in a veiled reference to China, Ambassador Tai called on countries to honor their obligations to report subsidies and other measures affecting trade to the WTO.Read Ambassador Tai’s full remarks here.