WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The World Trade Organization is ineffective and dysfunctional, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
He made this remark in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal after returning from the World Trade Organization's 14th Ministerial Conference.
Ambassador Greer outlined the WTO's repeated failure to address trade imbalances and how the United States is driving reform on trade globally to eliminate non-reciprocal practices and protect American workers and businesses.
He expressed regret that a proposal put forward by the U.S. and 24 co-sponsoring countries this year for a permanent 'e-commerce moratorium' on digital tariffs instead of settling for renewal every two years has failed.
These matters have been referred for further discussion at the WTO's headquarters in Geneva in a last-ditch effort to find consensus.
Greer said the U.S. isn't going to spend 30 years waiting for the WTO to respond to the needs of American workers and businesses. 'The WTO was of no use during the first 'China shock,' which crushed American manufacturing, and it's no help amid today's huge trade imbalances'.
He added that the U.S. is charting its own course on trade policy-working regionally, bilaterally and, where necessary, unilaterally. The Trump administration's recent wave of reciprocal trade agreements has been the most successful effort in years to open foreign markets while protecting domestic production and disciplining out-of-control imports, according to the Trade Representative. 'The U.S. is driving reform on trade globally, tackling tariffs and non-tariff barriers, addressing structural imbalances in trade, and diversifying and securing supply chains. The WTO is nowhere to be seen on these issues,' he added.
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