World Trade Organization (WTO) members are seeking to break years of paralysis in international trade negotiations, which have been sidelined by the Trump administration and risk becoming irrelevant. WTO members had already struggled to reach deals due to a consensus requirement among all 166 members. Preventing members from blocking decisions is now the top priority in reform talks, diplomats told Reuters.
The WTO's foundational Most Favored Nation (MFN) rule requires equal treatment among members but developing countries have privileges to help them compete. These include China and India, which Trump argues are now major economies with no need for extra support.
One document showed WTO members are aiming to streamline decision-making processes, promote fairer industrial policies including subsidies, and review the privileges of developing countries. Among the proposals is the so-called Pareto improvement, which a senior Chinese WTO delegate in Geneva said China had put forward. This measure would require members to provide clear, evidence-based proof of harm when blocking proposals. Other proposals include permitting members to opt out of decisions and allowing subsets of countries to advance negotiations without full consensus.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala conveyed the U.S. position to members in a restricted document viewed by Reuters, that a "reform by doing" approach - of practical, incremental improvements in the organization's functioning - is "vacuous" and would fail to tackle the deeper structural issues.
The U.S. said in its 2025 trade policy agenda that its patience is "wearing thin" and that key issues will not be resolved until China and other major economies - implying countries like India - relinquish their privileges.
The preceding summary is from this Reuters article: WTO overhaul targets fairer trade, easier decision-making to end paralysis | Reuters