WTO blockade by Washington must end_China.org.cn
For the 61st time, numerous member states have opposed a US veto on the appointment of judges to the WTO’s Supreme Appellate Body, and for the 61st time Washington has reacted with nothing but contempt. However, the most recent vote shows that the USA is now completely isolated and the pressure is only increasing. US behavior is increasingly posing a threat to world trade growth.
The British newspaper The Guardian published a report on December 24 entitled “Australia and China jointly protest against WTO blockades by US Appellate Body vetoes”. In fact, this isn’t just the “China-Australia team,” but a proposal by 127 members to protest US obstruction of the appointment of judges to the Supreme Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The US veto has been paralyzing the body for the past three years, which was the 61st proposal made by the majority of WTO members on the subject.
Perhaps the reason the British newspaper singled out China and Australia is that it is particularly striking when it is said that even Australia is on the side of China against the US. However, this shows that the US is on the opposite side of international society on an international issue.
The proposal stressed “the urgency and importance” for all to see. Anne Osborn Krueger, the former chief economist at the World Bank, recently published an article warning that the world’s countries were “sleepwalking” toward a global trade war Both the “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) and the “CHIPS and Science Act, which will come into effect on January 1, 2023, will be unanimously rejected by the international community – including most US allies – and will place an unbearable burden on the global economy for the next year.
A report released by the WTO predicts a sharp slowdown in global trade growth in 2023, with growth potentially slowing to 1 percent next year. That would be a sharp drop from the previously estimated 3.4 percent. It is therefore imperative for the world’s trading powers to act to prevent a global trade war. However, if the US continues to add fuel to the fire at this time of global crisis, it will commit criminal acts against the common interests of humanity.
The recent WTO rulings against the US have dealt a blow to the country and may even reinforce US rebellious mentality. However, by its very nature, the US will not look to itself for the origins of problems. Instead, they are more likely to believe that the problems are all rooted in the WTO mechanism. Some argue in this situation that if the US insists on going its own way, nothing can be done about it. But you can’t say that, and that’s not the case either. As for the joint proposal of 127 members, while the US has rejected it again, each time it rejects it, the cost to its credibility, as well as the moral pressure it faces, will increase exponentially. Because when the US stands alone on the other side of international law, it can hardly stand the cold, no matter how brazen it may be.