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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Dec22/16) Geneva, 19 Dec (D. Ravi Kanth) — The United States has sought dispute settlement (DS) reform at the World Trade Organization seemingly on its own terms while apparently ignoring calls from the majority of members for the immediate restoration of the Appellate Body (AB), as well as also justifying its alleged security-driven protectionist measures, SUNS has learned. In a concluding statement made by the US at the end of its 15th Trade Policy Review (TPR), the deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) and trade envoy to the WTO, Ambassador Maria Pagan, said the US priorities at the WTO include that “the development spectrum supports the core objectives of the multilateral trading system – that trade should raise living standards, ensure full employment, pursue sustainable development, and protect and preserve the environment.” She said, “there is nothing easy about achieving these objectives, but with our mutual commitment to meaningful and constructive engagement, we can do better here, for all of our people.” On GSP renewal as demanded by many African countries, the deputy USTR contended that “the legal authority to re-authorize GSP lies in the US Congress, which is currently deliberating on when and how it will update and renew the program.” “The MOU establishes an annual high-level engagement and quarterly meetings of technical working groups. Our shared objective is to deepen the relationship between the United States, the AfCFTA Secretariat, AfCFTA member states, and related stakeholders,” she said. Ambassador Pagan touted the recent memorandum about Washington’s commitment “to expanding trade and investment with the continent.” The US trade envoy claimed that “our shared objective is to translate AGOA’s opportunities into concrete benefits for African people in all segments of society.” As regards the LDC agenda, the US said that it shares the least-developed countries’ goal “of industrialization for their sustainable development.” However, Ambassador Pagan did not mention about extending the continued flexibilities availed of by the LDCs to the newly graduating countries which are severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis. On WTO reform, the deputy USTR emphasized more on “transparency” and improving the functioning of the WTO committees. Ambassador Pagan announced at the meeting “that the United States will begin to participate in the JSI (Joint Statement Initiative) on MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises).” The deputy USTR expressed gratification that “many Members welcome our record of leadership and continued strong interest in WTO reform, across all pillars of the organization.” She said while many members expressed appreciation “for the discussions we are hosting on dispute settlement reform”, Washington does not “prejudge what a reformed system would look like, and we likewise ask other Members to approach these conversations with an open mind.” Without answering demands for the restoration of the Appellate Body, Ambassador Pagan said that the US believes in working collectively toward a system that meets the needs of all Members. “We look forward to advancing these important conversations.” Replying to concerns expressed by several members that the US is providing trade-distorting domestic support in agriculture, including in “box-shifting”, the deputy USTR said that “I would like to note that the food assistance program was a temporary program designed to minimize the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 on US agriculture, while the market access program was a temporary program designed to help assist producers with meeting the additional costs associated with disrupted markets for commodities targeted by retaliatory tariffs.” On the US recourse to trade remedies that came under scrutiny during the meeting, Ambassador Pagan said “our system is petitioner-led, not government-led,” adding that “an increase or decrease in petitioners’ requests is not determined by the government.” The deputy USTR admitted that “while the United States accounted for nearly 20 percent of all initiated anti-dumping investigations from July 2019 to July 2022, 25 percent of all such investigations – one quarter – were initiated in response to trade from one Member – China.” On the growing alarm over the allegedly WTO-illegal trade sanctions slapped on China due to US national security objectives, Ambassador Pagan acknowledged that “one Member even said – without irony – that we are abusing the concept of national security, disregarding WTO rules, and destroying the multilateral trading system.” However, she reminded members that “the negotiating history of Article XXI(b) confirms the drafters intended this provision to be self-judging, and that the available remedy for such measures is a non-violation claim.” She justified the US national security-driven trade measures, saying, “as I said in my opening statement, we don’t need to agree with each other on everything.” “But it is in our collective interest to forge a WTO fit for the times,” she said, adding that “to that end, the United States will work with any Member that is committed, as we are, to the principles and foundational objectives that brought us here many decades ago.” +
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