The WTO's Existential Crisis: How to Salvage Its Ability to Settle Trade Disputes
The refusal by the U.S. to allow the appointment of new judges to the
World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body - a key component of its dispute settlement system - has caused an existential crisis for the organization. According to Jeffrey Schott and Euijin Jung of the
Peterson Institute for International Economics, US officials charge that certain Appellate Body decisions on WTO dispute panel rulings have improperly expanded WTO obligations. They warn that disabling the whole appellate system is a disproportionate response to a specific problem. A better approach would be to exempt antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) cases from appellate review. This change in the Appellate process, coupled with procedural reforms in proposals that are widely supported by WTO members, could mitigate US concerns and allow the Appellate Body to be repopulated.
https://www.piie.com/sites/default/files/documents/pb19-19.pdf
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