The court warns that the US blockage of appointments to the court threatens the dispute resolution system.
The director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has warned that the Trump administration's blocking of new judges to hear international disputes undermines a system that has prevented trade wars for more than two decades.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Roberto Azevêdo said the US move to block the filling of two vacancies on the seven-member appeals court was causing a crisis in one of the body's most important functions.
"The dispute settlement system is one of the most important pillars of the organisation. Since the creation of the WTO in 1995, this body has resolved more than 500 conflicts and if we put it in jeopardy, we will put the entire system in jeopardy," warned Azevêdo.
The appeal body needs at least four judges to act. In December, the number of members will fall to that figure when the mandate of a Belgian member expires. And in September next year, it will be reduced to three if no new appointments are made.
The row has raised concerns about Donald Trump and his skepticism toward multilateral institutions like the WTO, which he railed against during last year's presidential campaign and has continued to criticize since his appointment.
Geneva officials have recently echoed a line from the president's speech at the United Nations General Assembly in which he appeared to direct his criticism at the WTO. Many are therefore bracing for what they fear will become a more coordinated US attack on the organisation.
"For too long, the American people have been told that massive multinational trade agreements, countless international courts, and a powerful global bureaucracy were the best way to drive their success. But while those promises were being made, millions of jobs were being lost and hundreds of factories were disappearing," Trump said during his speech.
The US has raised objections to the appointment of the new appeals judges, arguing that outgoing members of the court should not be able to continue presiding over ongoing cases after their four-year terms expire.
But this has also raised concerns in the past, including under the Obama administration, over what Washington sees as judicial activism by the appellate body. Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative who mounted an unsuccessful campaign to be appointed a WTO appellate judge, has signaled in speeches and private conversations a U.S. interest in reforming a dispute-settlement system that he says has not always served U.S. interests.
The US government has not outlined what kind of reforms it wants, although it has issued what some officials in WTO member states see as veiled threats over specific disputes. For example, Lighthizer warned that The US will consider action if the WTO sides with China in discussions between Beijing and the EU over whether it deserves "market economy" status at the WTO. A provisional decision is not expected until mid-next year.
More broadly, Lighthizer has criticized the WTO's institutional capacity to deal with China's rise and what he has called unprecedented mercantilism and gaming of the system.
Azevêdo, a former Brazilian trade negotiator and ambassador to the WTO, defends himself against these accusations. "The US's misgivings about this system are significant. That a key member like the US has these doubts is not something we should or can ignore," Azevêdo said.
Source: Financial Times
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