On Monday, February 8th, and Tuesday, February 9th, 2021, WITA hosted its third annual Washington International Trade Conference (WITC) for the first time virtually. This conference brought together leaders in both the public and private trade sectors to discuss pressing issues and trends surrounding trade policy. 

The event began with remarks from Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director of WITA, as he introduced the first group of panelists: Wendy Cutler, President and Managing Director at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Susan Shirk, Research Professor at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, Aaron L. Friedberg, Professor of Politics & International Affairs at Princeton University, and Ambassador Kurt Tong, Partner at The Asia Group, who shared their thoughts on how trade fits into the overall US-China relationship. 

The U.S. China panel was primarily focused around the overall US-China relationship and how trade fits into the larger picture. From joining the WTO to now, China has significantly increased its dominance in global trade, economic, and financial markets and has now become a credible threat to U.S. hegemony due to large economic pressure.

Looking forward to the Biden administration, the panelists discussed where we are now in our relationship with China, how the Biden review will be conducted, and how trade fits into this multi-faceted relationship. Over the past few months we have seen RCEP signed, the development of the China EU investment deal, and we have now heard talk about China reviving trilateral negotiations with Japan and Korea. The panelists explored the potential impact of the Biden review and present internal focus on China’s growing hegemonic status. 

The Trade & Environmental Sustainability Panel focused on the growing global concern of climate change and how this issue intersects with trade. As the United States has most recently rejoined the Paris Accords and a variety of new executive orders have underpinned the Biden administration’s focus on mitigating climate change, there has been a shift in the international system on the pertinence of this issue. It is important to recognize where the U.S. and its allies now stand on sustainable policies that influence trade and consider how realistic it would be for less developed countries to accommodate the necessary standard to fight climate change. 

The discussion focused on both the EU and New Zealand’s positions on climate change as they relate to trade and what we should center our negotiations on going forward. Although there is promise with the Biden administration on these issues, it is undetermined what the administration’s nationally determined contribution in the Paris agreement will be which will be an important indicator of the level of emissions and leadership role on climate change. The panelists were Amb. Robert Holleyman, Partner at Crowell & Morning LLP, C&M International, Amb. Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Madelaine Tuininga, DG Trade Head of Unit in the European Commission, and Himamauli Das, Senior Managing Director at K2 Integrity. 

The next panel centered around finding a way forward on digital trade and delved into the intersection between trade and technology. As more and more countries are considering how they may tax or regulate the space, this issue has become of increasing relevance. As digital tools are a crucial driver of U.S. economic growth, it is clear they present both an incredible opportunity for progress and new challenges. The panelists featured were Arrow Augerot, Director of America’s Public Policy at Amazon, Jason Oxman, President & CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, Sahra English, Vice President of Public Policy at Mastercard, and Peter Swire, Senior Counsel at Alston & Bird LLP. 

The final panel of the day was the Ambassadors Trade Roundtable with panelists: Amb. Susan Schwab, Mayer Brown LLP, Dame Karen Pierce DCMG, British Ambassador to the USA, Amb. Nestor Forster Brazil’s Ambassador to the USA, Amb. Stavros Lambrinidis EU Ambassador to the USA, and Amb. Arthur Sinodinos Australia’s Ambassador to the USA. The ambassadors shed light on the trade landscape from their perspectives and offered insight into what is important in their countries in dealing with the U.S. and other trading partners. The discussion later touched on the future of the WTO and what each ambassador saw as top priorities for the organization to address.

The second day of WITA’s virtual conference program opened with remarks from Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director of WITA and Amb. Alan Wm. Wolff, Deputy Director General of the WTO. Amb. Alan Wolff shared his thoughts on necessary reform and revitalization of the WTO and how its role should evolve. Terence Stewart, author of the blog Current Thoughts on Trade, joined the discussion and gauged Amb. Wolff’s perspective on the WTO’s interest in engaging in more sectoral and regional trade agreements. 

The following panel built off of the previous discussion into a more in-depth conversation about WTO Revitalization & Reform from a broader group of perspectives. Many of the panelists highlighted the importance of improving our relationship with China, getting our dispute settlement system back on track and addressing pertinent 21st century issues such as those involving digital trade and climate change. The panelists featured were Amb. Rufus Yerxa, National Foreign Trade Council, Jennifer Hillman, Council on Foreign Relations, Simon Evenett from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Hiddo Houben, EU Mission to the WTO.

The next panel centered around the question: “What would a Neo-Progressive Trade Agenda look like?” with panelists from around the world. The panel opened with an introductory discussion of how the WTO has lagged in recognizing the intersection of trade with other issues today and the importance of looking at things in a more wholistic way. Some of the speakers brought up issues related to the environment, gender and labor that requires a new model of trade in order to create shared prosperity and growth. The panelists featured were: Catherine Novelli, Listening For America, Beth Baltzan, American Phoenix Trade Advisory Service, Catherine Feingold AFL-CIO International Department, Katrin Kuhlmann, New Markets Lab, and Kimberley Botwright from the World Economic Forum. 

For the closing keynote and discussion of the conference, WITA was pleased to present Chairman Neal of the House Ways & Means Committee who offered his insight into the contours of trade policy in 2021 and Steve Lamar of the American Apparel & Footwear Association and WITA’s Board President. The Chairman stressed the importance of using trade tools to address many of the issues we face today and the promise of the Biden administration to tackle inequities and reassert U.S. leadership.  

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9:00 AM: Revitalization and Reform of the WTO with WTO Deputy Director General Ambassador Alan Wm. Wolff

• Featured Remarks by Ambassador Alan Wm. Wolff,Deputy Director General of the WTO, and Co-Acting Director General
• Discussion with:
  • Kenneth Levinson,Executive Director, Washington International Trade Association
  • Terence Stewart,former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, and author of the blog, Current Thoughts on Trade

9:30 AM-10:15 AM: Discussion: Revitalization and Reform of the WTO 

• Ambassador Rufus Yerxa,President of the National Foreign Trade Council and former Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization
• Simon Evenett,Professor of International Trade and Economic Development and MBA Director, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
• Jennifer Hillman,Senior Fellow for Trade and International Political Economy, Council on Foreign Relations
• Hiddo Houben,Deputy Permanent Representative, EU Mission to the WTO
•  

10:15 AM: What does a Neo-Progressive Trade Agenda look like? 

• Moderator: Catherine Novelli,President, Listening for America, former Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment
• Beth Baltzan,Founder, American Phoenix Trade Advisory Service and formerly with USTR and the House Ways & Means Committee
• Catherine Feingold,Director, AFL-CIO International Department
• Katrin Kuhlmann,President and Founder, New Markets Lab, and Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
• Kimberley Botwright,Community Lead, Global Trade and Investment, World Economic Forum

11:15 AM: Closing Keynote and Discussion: Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal

• Rep. Richard Neal,Chairman, House Ways & Means Committee
• Discussion with Steve Lamar,President and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, and President of the Board, Washington International Trade Association

12:00 PM: Conference Close

To view more information on the event, please click here. 

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Trade Around the World

By: Madelyn Cunningham

The concluding panel of the 2020 Washington International Trade Conference was “Trade Around the World,” a discussion featuring ambassadors H.E. Fitsum Arega, Ambassador of Ethiopia, H.E. Rosemary Banks, Ambassador of New Zealand, H.E. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union, and H.E. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore. Laura Lane, President of Global Affairs for UPS, moderated the discussion through trade relations and FDI between their countries and the United States and the dissolution of the Appellate Body in the WTO.

Laura Lane opened the panel by discussing the relationship between Singapore and the United States, asking Ambassador Mirpuri to talk about this partnership and possible trade interests of Singapore in the future. Ambassador Mirpuri starts by stating the growing importance of trade in the political sphere, acknowledging that while the audience may have some familiarity with Singapore whether that be through business or the trade relationship with the United States, Singapore is a hyper-globalized country driven by trade.

Trade drives the Singaporean economy, but H.E. Mirpuri brought up the new challenges regarding issues of trade and expressed the need to identify where global trade will be going because of geopolitical conflict, recent anti-globalization and protectionist efforts, and the fourth wave of industrialization. To address these issues and changes, Mirpuri expressed that through the U.S. – Singapore trade relationship, Singapore has shifted its mindset towards future problems and adjusting in this age of digitization and global changes.

Ambassador Mirpuri stressed the need for a rules-based system in the WTO, explaining that for small countries especially, there must be an established system of rules and operations in order for the world dispute settlement process to be fully functioning. To account for the current instability in the WTO and the changing trade atmosphere with digitization, Ambassador Mirpuri identified how Singapore has been adapting.

Mirpuri stated that last month, partnered with New Zealand and Chile, Singapore concluded the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and hopes agreement will act as a “pathfinder” for e-commerce. Another significant change was the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is currently going through the ratification process.

Moderator Lane then shifted the conversation to bring in New Zealand Ambassador, H.E. Rosemary Banks, asking where she saw the U.S. – New Zealand relationship currently, and the issues on New Zealand’s trade agenda. Ambassador Banks brought up research recently done on the relationship between New Zealand and the United States, which concluded that the first time the country asked for a reciprocal trade agreement with the U.S. was in 1939. She stated that while trade relationships can take a long time, 80 years is a little excessive.

Ambassador Banks then brought up the direction of New Zealand trade policy, she stated that over the last 25 years, there has been significant emphasis on negotiating comprehensive bilateral agreements, establishing relationships with Asian Pacific countries, and maintaining global influence through existing trade agreements. While this has worked in favor of New Zealand, there is worry over taking assumptions of the three-pronged system for granted and the response to encourage the “open-pluralism approach”. Banks called back to Zoellick’s point in his remarks regarding the gap in systems for the process of creating new laws and rules.

Ambassador Banks expressed New Zealand’s excitement to head as the APEC Chair of 2021 in the form of a work program to be established this year, stating that there is a great need for multilateral trade relationships and a functioning and comprehensive dispute settlement system for trade issues. Banks concluded by answering a question asked in Ambassador Zoellick’s session regarding the importance of international trade.

To this, she brought up the “Trade for All Initiative”, a country-wide exercise that involved a consultation to listen to the entire population about their vision for trade policy. Through this consultation, it was found that there is a great divide as to thoughts on current New Zealand trade policy and whether or not it should be shifted in regard to the values of sustainability and equal economic empowerment.

Lane then brought Ambassador of Ethiopia, H.E. Fitsum Arega, into the conversation. With the recent push towards a multilateral trading system and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), Lane asked how this would tie into a future trade relationship between the United States and Ethiopia.

Ambassador Arega responded with increasing public investment of the Ethiopian government, both social and economic, strengthening the education sector and industrial infrastructure of the country. There is a growing preparation for global trade agreements and relationships in Ethiopia, and Arega identified Africa as the next frontier for business investment and trade because of these changes both domestically and continentally.

In addition to domestic reform, Ambassador Arega stated that the newly elected prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has made Ethiopian involvement in the World Trade Organization and global trade has a priority in recent years. Arega also identified the vast potential for a United States trade partnership with Ethiopia, as it builds its infrastructure, it has also been building an environmentally sustainable textile market. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is also a turning point for the continent, Arega explained, allowing for greater opportunities for processing and attractive investment.

Lane turned to H.E. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union, she asked whether or not the optimism for a US-EU trade agreement and future policies is warranted. Ambassador Lambrinidis responded that there is good reason to believe in the negotiations of future policy. He stated that when talking about the relationship between the United States and European Union, the benefits of this relationship could demonstrate that free trade can work in a globalized system and not in a way that would isolate certain countries.

Ambassador Lambrinidis identified the single European market as the biggest deregulation experiment in the world, allowing for an open market without borders of the most profitable businesses globally. The key focus of negotiations of a free market should be on the future, and special attention should be placed on the functions of said market from the grassroots of the economy to measure its effectiveness.

Lambrinidis also stated that the success of the single market is also reliant on the European progressive, values-based system; as trade is not only about making money, but about assigning values. GSP+ agreements establish that in order to negotiate and maintain a relationship, countries must also ensure human rights and sustainability practices.

Ambassador Lambrinidis then brought up the need for an established, rules-based system in the WTO and broader world order, as it is not only important to small countries, but also to large markets. Lambrinidis expressed great disdain for unilateral efforts to “destroy” the WTO, and while it is not easy to reverse protectionist and mercantilist policies and economies, he argued that the WTO must become stronger in the face of these issues and enforcing these changes.

With the changing world order comes new standards according to Lambrinidis, and no matter where countries are in their development, he believed there should be no exceptions to the implementation of these standards.

To further this point, Lane asked the panel to expand on their thoughts on the need to strengthen international systems and reforming the dispute settlement system of the WTO into this decade. Ambassador Rosemary Banks started the discussion, she stated that the first challenge of reforming multilateral organizations is having absolute commitment from major players of said organization.

Lane then moved on to special treatment for developing nations, especially as China, while a trade “powerhouse”, still receives exceptions from the WTO due to its first introduction as a developing country. Ambassador Lambrinidis identified this fact as a significant area of the WTO in need of reform as well as transparency and the Appellate Body.

He then stated that the WTO will always be in danger of collapsing as long as countries believe they are powerful enough to perform unilaterally and outside of its systems. He argued that without a neutral referee or party prosiding, dispute settlement will never work multilaterally, no matter how developed a rules-based system may be. China must play a bigger role in demanding rights but also in accepting obligations, and must be on board with future reforms.

Featuring:

H.E. Fitsum Arega, Ambassador of Ethiopia to the United States 

H.E. Rosemary Banks, Ambassador of New Zealand to the United States

H.E. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States

H.E. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore to the United States

Laura Lane, moderator, President, Global Public Affairs, UPS

To view more details about the event, visit the event page here.

The post WITC 2020: Trade Around the World – Ambassadors’ Roundtable appeared first on WITA.

The event began with remarks from Andrew Gelfuso, Vice President of Trade Center Management Associates and Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director of WITA. We were fortunate enough to hear Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, as he discussed the dissolution of the appellate body and his thoughts on global dispute settlements going forward. This was followed by an armchair discussion with Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

The U.S. China panel was primarily focused around how China had changed its own image within the last 20 years and the radical shifts it has made from being relatively closed off to countries who were not direct allies to joining the WTO in 2001. From joining the WTO to now, China has significantly increased its dominance in global trade, economic, and financial markets and has now become a credible threat to U.S. hegemony due to large economic pressure.

Since the Trump administration’s Phase One deal, China has become more cautious as to its approach to its relationship with the United States and there were voiced concerns from all panelists as to China’s willingness to follow through with their end of the agreement let alone get to a Phase Two before the end of the coming general election cycle. The panelists were Wendy Cutler, Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, Professor Ann Lee, author of  “What the US Can Learn from China” and “Will China’s Economy Collapse?”, Ambassador Kurt Tong, Partner at The Asia Group, Clete Willems, Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and Douglas M. Bell, Global Trade Policy Leader at Ernst & Young.

The NextGenTrade panel was centered around the evolution of trade due to advanced technologies such as AI, blockchain, 3D printing, as well as financial technology developments. While 3D trade was not as disruptive of an invention as was expected with regards to its ability to rapidly manufacture and place highly developed countries over developing ones, the ability of AI to do that was discussed in depth. Another issue that was brought up was blokchain’s ability to carry out anonymous, financial transactions that could skew U.S. financial markets with disruptive, malicious financial technologies from China, Russia, and Iran.

While illegal and purposefully harmful technologies were discussed, there could also be a market for legal and productive digital trade surrounding financial tools bolstered by AI and insured in its ability to be untampered with by blockchain based networks. Which type of digital trade economy develops over the next few years is dependent on which country holds dominance in both financial and economic markets. The panelists were Susan Lund the Director of Research at the McKinsey Global Institute, Julia Nielson the Head of the Development Division at the Trade & Agriculture Directorate, OECD, Paul Triolo the Practice Head of Geo-Technology at the Eurasia Group, and Jake Colvin, Executive Director of the Global Innovation Forum.

The next morning panel was the press roundtable, “Meet the [Trade] Press.” With trade on the forefront of many news outlets, this year was particularly interesting to hear from members of the press. From senior experts to junior correspondents, Ambassador Susan C. Schwab of Mayer Brown LLP moderated a discussion between prominent reporters on current trade topics and trends. Not only were the discussants able to share their experiences with the press, but they also gave their personal insight and predictions for how key trade issues will progress and be resolved. The featured panelists were Jenny Leonard, a junior reporter at Bloomberg News, David Lynch, the Global Economics Correspondent at the Washington Post, James Politi, the World Trade Editor of the Financial Times, and Ana Swanson, a Trade and Economics Correspondent at the New York Times.

Rich Thau, President and Co-Founder of Engagious, started our afternoon sessions with a presentation on his research, “The Swing Voter Project,” which analyzes the thinking and opinions of swing voters of the past two presidential elections. In addition to discussing trends and the demographics of the voters interviewed, he also touched on the issues they found to be most important and most decisive for the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election. He found that in regard to trade policy, it was not necessarily the concept of open trade that these voters were wary about, but more so immigration policy that might accompany it. This was followed by a conversation with Kimberly Ellis, Principal at the Monument Policy Group. They discussed the implications of his research, as well as his predictions for the upcoming election cycle.

Next on the afternoon agenda was, “A Fireside Chat: ‘Tarrified’ of Trade Talks?” Hosts of the Trade Talks podcast Chad Bown, Reginald Jones Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Soumaya Keynes, the Trade and Globalization Editor for the Economist gave commentary on the troubles of the appellate body of the World Trade Organization. Using a more historical lens, Bown and Keynes analyzed policy of the WTO and gave insight as to what could be done to restore a balanced dispute settlement system in trade.

Ambassador Robert Zoellick gave his remarks in the next session. Zoellick discussed both his pessimism towards the Trump Administration’s global trade plans as well as the degradation of U.S. relations to a multilateral system. Ambassador Zoellick also spoke on the strategic harnessing of all types of trading systems, specifically that the best and most strategically competent trade policy measures would be the ones that can harness regional, bilateral, and multilateral trade networks together instead of dogmatically chasing one. He also advised business owners to innovate supply chains that are more rigid and flexible to the coming era of trade uncertainty. His remarks were followed by a conversation with Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

The concluding panel, “Trade Around the World,” featured a conversation between foreign ambassadors to the United States on both the conflict surrounding the dispute settlement process of the WTO as well as their take on relations between their countries and the U.S. From discussing the need to establish a rules-based system in trade relations to their countries’ stakes in the global market and foreign direct investment from and into the United States, the panelists gave interesting insight as to the climate of trade policy in years to come. Moderated by Laura Lane, President of Global Public Affairs at UPS, the featured panelists were H.E. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore, H.E. Stavros Labrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union, H.E. Rosemary Banks, Ambassador of New Zealand, and H.E. Fitsum Arega, Ambassador of Ethiopia.

The post 2020 Washington International Trade Conference Recap appeared first on WITA.

If the WTO’s Appellate Body will ceases to function after December, 2019, what are the implications for the functioning of the WTO and its ability to enforce existing agreements and to negotiate new rules and market access agreements?

On November 21st, WITA held an event where an expert panel looked at the crisis with the Dispute Settlement Understanding and the Appellate Body, and discussed where the World Trade Organization should go from here.

Featuring

• Stacy J. Ettinger, Partner, K&L Gates LLP
• Marvin Hildebrand, Minister (Economic), Embassy of Canada
• Jennifer Hillman, Senior Fellow for Trade & International Political Economy,Council on Foreign Relations
• Bruce Hirsh, Principal, Tailwind Global Strategies LLC & Of Counsel to Capitol Counsel LLC
• Terry Stewart, formerly, Managing Partner, Law

Also, listen to Bruce Hirsh do a deep dive on the Crisis at the WTO in his guest appearance on the Yeutter Institute podcast!

And don’t miss WITA’s own Crisis at the WTO Spotify Playlist!

The post The Crisis at the WTO: Where Do We Go From Here? 11/21/19 appeared first on WITA.

Featuring:

Ambassador Darci Vetter, Former Chief Agricultural Negotiator, USTR; Vice Chair of Agriculture, Food and Trade, Edelman

David Dollar, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center

Bonnie Glaser, Senior Advisor for Asia and Director, China Power Project, CSIS

David Goldman, Principal, Asia Times

To view more details about the event, visit the event page here.

The post WITC: In a Trade War with China, What Does Victory Look Like? appeared first on WITA.

Featuring:

Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Council of the Americas

The Honourable Perrin Beatty, P.C., O.C., Former Canadian Cabinet Minister; President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Kenneth Smith Ramos, Former Mexican Chief Negotiator for the modernisation of NAFTA; Partner, AGON

Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, Managing Director, Sard Verbinnen & Co. (SVC)

To view more details about the event, visit the event page here.

The post WITC: The Art of the Deal: The USMCA appeared first on WITA.

Featuring:

Clete Willems, Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics and Deputy NEC Director at The White House in a discussion with Michael J. Smart, Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors

To view more details about the event, visit the event page here.

The post G20 Leaders’ Summit: A Readout from the U.S. Sherpa, Clete Willems appeared first on WITA.

What’s Next For The World Trade Organization?

By: Mariana Jo-Bonilla

On November 8th, the Washington International Trade Association hosted the event “What’s Next For The WTO?” featuring a panel of experts that included Terence P. Stewart, Managing Partner at Stewart and Stewart; Ronald Lorentzen, Senior International Trade Advisor at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP; Grant D. Aldonas, Executive Director of the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University; and Dorothy Dwoskin, Principal at d2Strategies examined the future of the WTO and discussed the prospects to reform the organization.

Terence Stewart began the discussion by framing the importance of the WTO within the tremendous changes and technological transformations that have taken place in the global trade system over the past few decades. He used this analysis to highlight his concerns about the trading system, saying that, ”this system contains 20th century rules for a 21st century world …the loss of effective negotiations capabilities within the WTO, since it flows from a consensus-type of approach that historically has worked with a smaller group of countries”. He emphasized how nations are increasingly joining together through meetings to consider some of the issues that the U.S. has with the system and bringing a broader reform to the table. These initiatives are reflected in the EU paper, published last September and the Canadian paper published this October, which highlights the necessity mention to reform the WTO. He emphasized on the “mini-ministerial” meeting in Ottawa where 13 countries gathered to discuss whether there were ideas that they agreed to, to reach out to other countries to see if there could be a reform about these ideas. Furthermore, there have been trilateral initiatives such as U.S.-EU-Japan to help deal with distortions that flow from a state-control economies, like China.

Next to speak was Ronald Lorentzen. He asserted that the WTO matters because, “it is the most efficient way to maximize adherence to a single set of rules to deal with disciplines that affect trade. If you want a baseline that’s going to work for everyone you need something like the WTO”. He believes it is a worthwhile time investment to seek improvements for the WTO. He laid out 2 areas that could cover the reformation of the WTO, these being: 1) Functioning of the current system and 2) Scope and content of agreements. As for the functioning of the system, Ron mentioned 3 pillars that are supposed to be the underpinning of the WTO’s mission: negotiation, implementation and dispute settlement. These pillars are considered fundamental to the WTO’s role, so it is important to know how to implement more rules efficiently. He said it was important to notice that implementation does not only occur domestically, but it can also be applied in the regular work of the committees and the bodies of the organization.

As to the scope and content of agreements, Ron noted that these need to reflect ongoing trade production and political developments. He argued that different factors should be considered. Principal among these are the growing importance of addressing state-led economies, the need to include global value chains and a reconsideration of the founding principles of the WTO.  Ron provided suggestions on what should be done if the WTO is to be reformed. His first suggestion was to establish definitions according to each country’s economic system (state-led or market-oriented). Second, we need to distinguish the difference between state-led economies and developing economies in order to apply fair treatment. Third, Ron talks about trade and competition, how to compete but in a fair manner. Fourth, identify which factors are  not going to change in a state-led economy and which rules the WTO should apply as to not affect others within the system. Fifth, include issues such as subsidies in services, restructure antidumping and countervailing measures to better reflect the reality of global supply chains and take into an account the prevalence of multinational competitors having production facilities situated in different jurisdictions. His final suggestion is to reconsider the founding principles of the WTO.

Next to speak was Grant D. Aldonas, who focused on the political aspects of the reform. He mentioned that if they go back to the GATT, there has always been the factor of “reciprocity” in multilateral and bilateral agreements and relations. Grant also added that there is an assumption to how the US bargained, which is why it is important to know  the perspective the current Administration has on the principle of reciprocity. Grant talked about the actual role of Congress in trade and how their main interest is getting deals for workers in trade agreements. Additionally, he talked about what was on the news that calls for attention such as the Brazil’s President-Elect Bolsonaro and how he is taking a similar approach as President Trump with bilateral trade deals. There is also a deep resistance to what China represents as a deviation from the norms of the system, making the U.S. a victim of the trading system instead of a beneficiary of the trading system. Post-Brexit proposals are not taking into consideration a multilateral perspective either. May of these examples illustrate  several measures that are not reflective of the WTO rules, but rather more bilateral approaches. At the Ottawa meeting, countries didn’t talk about actual reform, but it was only a discussion about what new issues should they include or should they talk about. They acted based on assuming that they had support from other WTO Members on the idea of negotiating under a reciprocal basis, rather than actually identifying whether or not is it possible.

Dorothy Dwoskin  compared Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in relation to WTO rules, then posed the question, “is it time to look for different kinds of agreements?”. Dorothy noted that FTAs can be negotiated at a plurilateral level but results have to be implemented on a MFN basis. She found it interesting that for the Tokyo Round, like-minded countries got together to discuss subsidies, procurement, licensing, and other issues concerning the countries at that time. She also mentioned that in regard to special and differential treatment countries need to really consider if they still need it. Regarding transparency and notification, countries don’t negotiate in public but all of the documents that are meaningful in the WTO are just job documents, and not necessarily public documents, so other Members can’t see the proposals that have actually been made. One interesting thing that the U.S. has done, according to Dorothy, is the move from e-commerce to digital trade and taken moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and put it at the center at the digital chapter.

During the second round of discussion, Terry mentioned that the likelihood of reform is not bright. He also noted that if the talks move in a multilateral manner, then the MFN principle is an impediment to that because of the existence of “free-riders”. As  for preferential treatment, the EU and Canada papers talk about encouraging countries to graduate themselves or to agree that on new agreements preferential treatment will be based on need and not self-classification. Ron suggested to clarify which agreements they are looking for within the system: market access agreements or rule-based agreements. There is also a need for a deep dive on definitions and labels. Grant talked about how the current U.S. Administration should focus in on one goal,  such as preventing free riding in the agreements. He said there is a way to achieve such goals without bringing the system down. He noted that if the U.S. uses a bilateral approach, it actually reduces the tools and arguments in support of a multilateral system. By pursuing bilateral agreements, they maintain a smaller degree of leverage compared to trying to do the right thing with plurilateral agreements.

At the end of the Q&A with the audience, Dorothy asked what are some of the positive steps that the U.S. can take to initiate examination of long term issues with the WTO. Terry argued that enhanced dispute settlement was crucial to meaningful reform. Ron talked about transparency and forcing countries to show how they come to their decisions. Finally, Grant agreed with Ron on the importance of transparency since it is good for the system because the information provided in the market allows for the political market to work.

Panel Discussion Featuring

Grant D. Aldonas, Executive Director, Institute of International Economic Law, Georgetown University Law Center; former Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Department of Commerce

Ronald Lorentzen, Senior International Trade Advisor, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP; former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Enforcement & Compliance (E&C), Department of Commerce

Terence P. Stewart, Managing Partner, Stewart and Stewart

Moderator, Dorothy Dwoskin, Principal, d2Strategies LLC; Former Assistant USTR for the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Multilateral Affairs, Office of the US Trade Representative

To view more details about the event, click here.

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WITA hosted an expert panel to discuss the economic and political issues underlining the U.S.-China relationship, to provide context for current trade tensions, and priorities for reform in China.

Featuring

Evan Feigenbaum, The Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago

Melanie Hart, American Progress

Chris Johnson, CSIS

Paul Triolo, Eurasia Group

For more information on the event and information on the speakers, visit the events page here

The post China 2025: A Look at China Today and Where it is Heading appeared first on WITA.