The delayed WTO meeting has hampered Reuters’ push for new dynamism in the USTR Taik trade organization

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has a vision to reform the World Trade Organization: reviving the dynamism that marked its creation in 1995, when countries pledged to clarify complaints and seek compromise while shaping the global trading system.

But the delay on Friday https://www.reuters.com/business/wto-postpones-major-meeting-over-covid-19-concerns-sources-2021-11-26 a four-day ministry meeting next week. Due to travel restrictions in Geneva and concerns about the deployment of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, it was unclear how or where Taik would push that approach. The cancellation also obscures the WTO’s exemption from intellectual property for vaccines against COVID-19 and its application for reductions in fishing grants.

The director general of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said he wanted to continue the negotiations even though he did not travel in person, but delegations from Geneva-based countries should have the power to reach agreements, especially on vaccines.

“This new variant reminds us once again of the need for the work we are charged with,” he said in a statement.

Whatever the place, Tai’s main problem in reforming the WTO is overcoming the established positions and competing national interests that have prevented the organization from evolving in a quarter of a century, according to trade experts.

Tai recently told reporters that the WTO, which was created to regulate and facilitate international trade, could not return to its status https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-wto/us-trade-chief-tai- dio-wto- needs-infusion-of-energy-vision-idUSKBN2HV2UX and needs new perspectives and energies to continue to be important in a rapidly changing global economy.

“My vision for WTO reform is for WTO members to come to Geneva or gather anywhere and bring their honesty,” Taik said. Members should be “ready to fight for the WTO’s vision”.

The latest round of WTO ministerial-level talks was at the back of the global trading system due to the coronary virus pandemic and the tumultuous trade wars launched by former US President Donald Trump in his four years.

Trump, who was skeptical about free trade and multilateral agreements, threatened to leave the organization https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-wto/wto-chief-says-no-panic-over -trump- outdrawal-threat-idUSKCN1LG27C. Opposition to the appointment of judges to the Appellate Body was stopped by the U.S. two years ago when the WTO dispute settlement system was halted, and Washington argued that the body had exceeded its mandate.

Taik has repeatedly stated the commitment of the Biden administration to https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-committed-wto-wants-it-succeed-trade-rep-tai-says-2021-10-14 WTO and He wanted to contact the US allies for reforms in the organization.

“He’s saying the right thing. He’s emphasizing the importance of a well-functioning WTO,” said Wendy Cutler, a former USTR negotiator and current director of the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington. “The question is whether the U.S. is playing a leading role in helping to mediate these agreements, as it has done in the past, and that may not be as obvious as before.”

VISUAL AGREEMENT

Indian pressure https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-push-patent-waiver-covid-19-vaccines-wto-2021-11-26, other developing countries and activist groups are being built. An IP exception that would allow more widespread manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries, some WTO members have said they threaten to block progress https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/non-profit-groups- say-wto- reverse-vaccine-apartheid-before-any-meeting-2021-11-24 without denying other issues.

Taik announced support for the U.S. resignation in May, and President Joe Biden repeated the call in response to news of a new variant found in South Africa on Friday. -pharmaceuticals / year-after-covid-vaccine-waiver-proposal-wto-talks-are-deadlocked-2021-10-04 Between the opposition of Switzerland, Great Britain and other European countries.

In the fisheries grant negotiations, Tai is pushing for a U.S. proposal to ban subsidies for fishing fleets that use forced labor, including acknowledging that it is a problem. The demand has created opposition from India and other developing countries.

Jamieson Greer, who has been the USTR’s chief of staff in the Trump administration, said he does not see the attention the Biden administration is placing on workers ’rights as Tai backs away from that request, so his expectations are low.

“We’re looking at a WTO ministry that doesn’t have a lot of consensus documents or results,” said Greer, who is currently a commercial lawyer for King & Spalding in Washington. He added that these could be replaced by multi-faceted statements, which would not necessarily be considered a failure.

“I think it will probably emphasize that the WTO cannot address many of these unresolved issues.”

Okonjo-Iweala told reporters on Thursday that he hoped that the increase in U.S. commitments pushed by Tai would hopefully bring the party together, especially in the COVID-19 and fisheries issue.

Tai has yet to take part in major multilateral negotiations, but since taking office in March he has achieved a number of bilateral trade victories, including ending the 17-year aircraft subsidy deal with the European Union and easing US steel and aluminum tariffs. -Free quotas for European producers.