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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Jun25/04) Geneva, 4 Jun (D. Ravi Kanth) — Several trade ministers, including the United States Trade Representative (USTR), at an informal meeting in Paris on 3 June, appear to have presented their respective but differing assessments on how to reform the World Trade Organization, with Washington raising fundamental concerns about the current practice of decision-making by consensus, said people familiar with the development. The USTR, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, is understood to have raised several issues including overcapacity in certain sectors like steel, the alleged failure of the WTO’s negotiating function based on the principle of consensus-based decision-making, and special and differential treatment (S&DT) flexibilities, said a person, who participated in the meeting. The principle of consensus-based decision-making is at the heart of the Marrakesh Agreement that established the WTO in 1995, and in the recent past, several countries, including the US have demanded other forms of consensus, including the notion of “responsible consensus”. The informal WTO meeting, convened by Australia on the margins of the annual ministerial meeting of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), highlighted the contrasting views of industrialized countries on the one side, and developing countries, on the other, on the issue of WTO reforms, the participant said. In its annual forecast of global economic prospects, the OECD has painted a rather bleak picture on account of US President Donald Trump’s ongoing global trade war, projecting global economic growth at 2.9 percent in 2025 and 2026. “We are invited by Australia to be able to talk to each other [about] the possible reforms to the WTO,” the WTO’s Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told reporters prior to the informal ministerial meeting on 3 June. However, there is little or no convergence of views on how the WTO reforms are to be carried out, said another participant, who asked not to be quoted. At the meeting, India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal apparently raised eight points revolving around strengthening the multilateral trading system and the need to respect past mandates. He said the self-designated S&DT is a treaty provision and should not be changed. While highlighting the dangers posed by non-market economies, Mr Goyal argued that plurilateral initiatives are not in the collective interests of the WTO membership, according to the participant. Trade ministers from some industrialized countries seem to have shared some of the concerns raised by the USTR over consensus-based decision-making and the S&DT framework, the participant said. Before the meeting, the DG bemoaned that the multilateral trading system has been disrupted in a way it hasn’t been before. She said: “And when you have this kind of disruption, you ask yourself, what is it that needs to be reformed about the WTO? What is it that developing countries like India don’t like? Let them put that on the table. What is it that the US doesn’t like? Put that on the table. What do Africans not like? Put that on the table. Let’s collect this. And then let’s try to reform it.” Trade ministers from around 20 countries are understood to have taken part in the meeting, discussing what ought to be the “deliverables” for the upcoming WTO’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14), to be held in Yaounde, Cameroon in March 2026, on which there is little or no clarity at this juncture, said people who asked not to be quoted. The DG participated in the meeting to drive home the priorities for MC14, particularly on the proposed WTO reforms, said people who asked not to be quoted. The informal WTO ministerial meeting in Paris was the first opportunity for the new USTR to interact with ministers on several issues, including on the fears being expressed over the continued uncertainty and unpredictability in the multilateral trading system due to the “reciprocal” tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration, said people familiar with the meeting. Aside from the WTO meeting, Ambassador Greer is understood to have discussed with several countries about expediting their response in terms of what they are ready to agree to concerning the “reciprocal” tariffs, said people who asked not to be identified. The USTR appears to have sent letters to all major trading partners reminding them about the 90-day pause on the imposition of “reciprocal” tariffs, whose deadline is set to expire in early July. The USTR, as well as the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, are simultaneously holding talks “with many of our key trading partners around the globe,” the White House confirmed on 3 June. WTO REFORMS On the issue of WTO reforms, which is a priority area for several industrialized countries, including the US, a recent report issued by the USTR on the 2025 Trade Policy Agenda noted that “serious efforts aimed at improving the WTO’s negotiating arm have been replaced by an unambitious focus on improving a few committee procedures – a lowest-common-denominator effort that was given the fittingly vacuous slogan “reform by doing”.” The USTR’s report also pointed out that “waiving intellectual property rights under the TRIPS Agreement for COVID-19 vaccines, as well as the conclusion of a weak agreement on fisheries subsidies, show that rather than boldly tackling global challenges, the WTO is prisoner to its lowest-common-denominator.” For several developing countries, the WTO reforms based on the proposals mooted by the US and the “Friends of the System” Group, such as differentiation among developing countries for availing of S&DT and the discontinuation of the practice of consensus-based decision-making are unacceptable, said people familiar with the discussions. Further, the proposed US “reciprocal” tariffs were also highlighted by some countries, albeit somewhat indirectly, particularly on the uncertainty they have caused to the global trading system, said people who asked not to be quoted. Recently, the DG and the chair of the WTO’s General Council floated a joint proposal containing some ideas on the reform of the WTO. The proposals included: (1) “Level playing field issues”; and (2) “Negotiating function reform” [which involves doing away with the principle of consensus-based decision-making and differentiation among developing countries for availing of S&DT – both demanded by the US and several other industrialized countries.] For many participants at the Paris meeting, the restoration of a fully functioning two-tier dispute settlement system is a priority, though the US remains vehemently opposed to such a system, including an appeal/review mechanism, said people who asked not to be quoted. On the issue of agriculture, there was no consensus among the countries on what ought to be the key “deliverables” at MC14. Several developing countries, including India and Indonesia, as well as some African countries flagged their core issues such as public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security and other unresolved issues, said people who asked not to be quoted. The DG apparently urged India to support the proposal to incorporate the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) into Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement (dealing with plurilateral agreements), an issue that India has consistently opposed at the WTO since 2016, said people familiar with the development. India along with Turkiye and South Africa have refused to join the consensus on IFDA on both systemic and procedural grounds. Before the informal ministerial meeting in Paris, the DG said, “we need India as a leader,” adding that “India is a leading country, and India is doing well.” She told reporters, “so, India needs to open the way for other developing countries. For example, on investment facilitation for development, we want it to support, because so many developing countries – 90 out of the 126 who are members – would like to move with this.” +
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