In light of the recent disruptions caused by the US within the multilateral trading system – the slow killing of the Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the imposition of tariffs on imports of aluminum and steel, a trade war with China, and prospects of further tariffs on imports of cars – the European Union (EU) has taken up the task of leading reform talks with the view of saving the WTO. The proposals made public by the European Commission at the end of September 2018 focus on three areas: (i) creation of new substantive rules; (ii) making regular committee work more efficient and improving transparency of trade policies; and (iii) reforming dispute settlement.
This lecture by Professor Jan Wouters, founding Director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, and hosted by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and the Columbia Society of International Law, critically assesses the Commission’s proposals: are they balanced and effective? Do they stand any chance or will securing consensus at the WTO be a very long shot? Will the newly proposed substantive rules (e.g., on subsidies, state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfers, digital trade, different approach to special and differential treatment for developing countries) be acceptable to China, which is clearly targeted by them? Will the proposals on transparency and committee work (e.g., improving subsidy notifications by creating a rebuttable presumption of serious prejudice in case of non-notification) appeal to the wider WTO membership? And, last but not least, will the proposed changes to dispute settlement fly with the US, as they may go in a different direction compared to the latter’s views?
