Seven World Trade Organization (WTO) members, including China and the EU, jointly proposed an investigation into the US’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports at a WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting on October 29. This underlines their attention to the survival of the dispute settlement mechanism, Yu Haichun, professor of the School of Economics, Renmin University of China, said in an opinion piece on haiwainet.cn.
Formulating rules and enforcing them are the two central functions of the WTO. The WTO rules can only be enforced under a working dispute settlement mechanism. That is why updating rules and safeguarding the dispute settlement mechanism were prioritized in recent discussions on WTO reform, Yu said.
As the interrelation and interdependency between trade in products, trade in service and international investment has become the core of economic and trade exchanges, a set of international rules in support of this relationship is needed. To this end, WTO member states initiated in 2001 the Doha round of talks – covering not only conventional areas, but also trade-related policies, competition policies and others, Yu noted.
Yet no significant progress has been made, Yu said, for various reasons. Take the Doha round. While a final whole deal can be reached only when there is consensus on the entire agenda, countries have different priorities. Emerging economies like China and India are exerting influence on trade talks, which tilted the balance of power in the Doha round. And within developed countries, trade protectionism is rising.
The seven members’ proposal is more of a posture, Yu argued. China now has different expectations of international rules, and the world expects differently of it. The country can contribute its wisdom to WTO reform.
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