President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming the body treats the US unfairly.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, President Trump said: “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO.”
The WTO was established to provide rules for global trade and resolve disputes between countries.
Donald Trump says the organization too often rules against the US, although he concedes it has won some recent judgments.
The president claimed on Fox News earlier this year that the WTO was set up “to benefit everybody but us”, adding: “We lose the lawsuits, almost all of the lawsuits in the WTO.”
However, some analysis shows the US wins about 90% when it is the complainant and loses about the same percentage when it is complained against.
President Trump’s warning about a possible US pull-out from the WTO highlights the conflict between his protectionist trade policies and the open trade system that the WTO oversees.
Washington has recently blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s Geneva-based dispute settlement body, which could potentially paralyze its ability to issue judgments.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has also accused the WTO of interfering with US sovereignty.
It comes as President Trump set an August 31 deadline for Canada to sign a new agreement with the US and Mexico. He has threatened to tax Canada’s automotive sector or cut it out entirely.
Donald Trump has been sounding off about unfair trade since even before he became president.
On August 30, he said that the 1994 agreement to establish the WTO “was the single worst trade deal ever made”.
The US has been embroiled in a tit-for-tat trade battle on several fronts in recent months.
The one creating the most interest is with China, as the world’s two largest economies wrangle for global influence.
President Trump has introduced tariffs on a number of goods imported into the US.
A third round of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods could come as soon as a public-comment period concludes next week, according to a Bloomberg report citing various sources.
Asked to confirm this during the Bloomberg interview, President Trump said that it was “not totally wrong”.
China has responded to US tariffs by imposing retaliatory taxes on the same value of US products and has filed complaints against the tariffs at the WTO.
The White House plans to announce sanctions against China on March 22 after determining that the country is encouraging the theft and transfer of intellectual property from US businesses.
The Trump administration said the actions come after years of talks about the issue that failed to produce change.
The actions are expected to include tariffs, as well as other measures.
The plans have stoked fears of a wider trade war.
According to media, the White House is considering between $30 billion and $60 billion in tariffs as well as measures that would restrict investment.
Trade officials also said that the US may also seek to bring complaints to the World Trade Organization.
The US’s top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, told members of Congress on March 21 the US is looking to put “maximum pressure on China and minimum pressure on US consumers”.
A US trade official, who spoke to reporters as part of a briefing, said the US has evidence that China requires companies to create local partnerships to enter the Chinese market, as a way of pressuring them into technology transfer.
The US also found evidence that China steers investments in the US to strategic industries, and conducts and supports cyber attacks.
The findings come from a review of China’s practices that President Donald Trump ordered in August, called a 301 investigation.
According to section 301 of the trade act, the US government has given itself the power to unilaterally impose sanctions against countries which it decides are not trading fairly.
President Trump has repeatedly railed against the massive US trade deficit with China.
There is growing concern in the US that China is seeking technology that could be deployed for military purposes.
Congress is also weighing legislation that would boost the government’s power to review foreign business deals, citing the threat posed by state-backed acquisition of US companies.
China has said there would be no winner from any trade war.
On March 20, the last day of the annual sitting of the National People’s Congress, China’s Premier Le Keqiang said he hoped both sides could remain “calm”.
The Chinese prime minister also said he hoped the US would ease restrictions on exports of high-tech goods to China.
The United States violated global trade rules when it imposed tariffs on products from China and India, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has found.
In response to a 2012 complaint, the WTO said the US improperly imposed tariffs on Chinese steel and solar panels.
The WTO said the US improperly imposed tariffs on Chinese steel and solar panels
In a separate ruling, it said the US must change the way it imposes tariffs on India steel products.
The US is embroiled in several trade spats with China and India.
“China urges the United States to respect the WTO rulings and correct its wrongdoings of abusively using trade remedy measures, and to ensure an environment of fair competition for Chinese enterprises,” said China’s foreign trade ministry in a statement.
However, the WTO did not agree with all of the complaints filed by India and China.
The US – which has argued it imposed the tariffs to combat artificially low prices on products from India and China’s state-subsidized industries – has the right to appeal the ruling.
The US has won a World Trade Organization ruling against China in a dispute over tariffs on American luxury cars.
A WTO panel found no basis for duties that China imposed between 2011 and 2013.
The US described it as a “significant victory”.
The US has won a World Trade Organization ruling against China in a dispute over tariffs on American luxury cars
China began tariffs on saloons and off-road vehicles with an engine capacity of 2.5 litres or more in retaliation for US trade policies.
China argued when it introduced the charges that US carmakers, such as GM and Chrysler, had received government subsidies and flooded the Chinese market with the cars, which harmed China’s own car industry.
The US said China had imposed the duties without following the rules and filed the case with the WTO.
The rate was as high as 21.5%.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman said $5 billion of exports in 2013 had been taxed.
“The message is clear. China must follow the rules, just like other WTO members,” he said.
US vehicle exports to China were worth $8.6 billion in 2013, 48% more than a year earlier. It is the largest foreign market for US automakers after Canada.
Ministers from 159 countries attending the 9th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, have reached a deal intended to boost global trade.
The WTO’s first comprehensive agreement involves an effort to simplify the procedures for doing business across borders.
There will also be improved duty-free access for goods sold by the world’s poorest countries.
The deal, which could add about $1 trillion to world trade, gives developing nations more scope to increase farm subsidies.
“For the first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered,” said WTO chief Roberto Azevedo, as the organization reached its first comprehensive agreement since it was founded in 1995.
“This time the entire membership came together. We have put the ‘world’ back in World Trade Organization,” he said.
However, the deal was earlier criticized by some development campaigners, who said it was not going far enough.
Ministers from 159 countries attending the 9th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Bali have reached a deal intended to boost global trade
It is worth spelling out something what is not covered by this – tariffs or taxes on imported goods.
Dealing with them has been the bread butter of past trade rounds – but not for this deal.
The core of this agreement is what is called trade facilitation. This is about reducing the costs and delays involved in international trade. It is often described as “cutting red tape”.
Some analysts suggest the benefits could be large. An influential Washington think tank has put the potential gains to the world economy at close to $1 trillion and 20m million jobs.
It also estimates the cost of administrative barrier as double the cost of tariffs.
The rich countries have agreed to help the poorer WTO members with implementing this agreement.
Another important aspect of the Bali package is about enabling poor countries to sell their goods more easily. This part is about tariffs, and also quota limits on imports.
Rich countries and the more advanced developing countries have agreed to cut tariffs on products from the poorest nations.
The United States, EU and Japan have filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO), challenging its restrictions on rare earth exports.
US President Barack Obama announced the filing at the White House, accusing China of breaking agreed WTO rules.
Beijing has set quotas for exports of rare earths, which are critical to the manufacture of high-tech products from hybrid cars, to flat-screen TVs.
It is the first WTO case to be filed jointly by the US, EU and Japan.
They argue that by limiting exports, China, which produces more than 95% of the world’s rare earth metals, has pushed up prices.
“We’ve got to take control of our energy future and we cannot let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules,” President Barack Obama said in a Rose Garden press conference.
“If China would simply let the market work on its own we would have no objections.”
In the press conference, Barack Obama also said his newly established trade enforcement unit was ramping up operations.
Barack Obama announced the new unit in January.
The US, EU and Japan have filed a case against China at the WTO, challenging its restrictions on rare earth exports
China has denied the allegations in the WTO case, saying that it had enforced the quotas to ensure there was no environmental damage caused due to excessive mining.
“We think the policy is in line with WTO rules,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.
“Exports have been stable. China will continue to export, and will manage rare earths based on WTO rules,” he said.
The 17 metals are used in electrical products, as well as many renewable energy devices.
There have been concerns that Beijing has implemented the quotas in a bid to ensure that prices remain low within China, which would give its manufacturers an advantage.
But Ivor Shrago, chairman of the mining services firm Rare Earths Global, said the US was in trouble because it took the wrong decisions in the past.
“They took a deliberate decision about 20 years ago not to develop [rare earth mining] and instead to buy the completed products,” he said.
“Because of the deliberate decision that was taken, in China we have developed skills and expertise that the others do not have.”
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