US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to withdraw recognition of the special “developing nation” status of China and other relatively rich nations at the WTO unless changes are made to the body’s rules.
The salvo fell the week before top US trade officials are to return to China to rekindle trade talks that collapsed in May.
“The WTO is BROKEN when the world’s RICHEST countries claim to be developing countries to avoid WTO rules and get special treatment. NO more!!! Today I directed the U.S. Trade Representative to take action so that countries stop CHEATING the system at the expense of the USA!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Photo: AFP
In a memo to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Trump said that the global trade body uses “an outdated dichotomy between developed and developing countries that has allowed some WTO members to gain unfair advantages.”
Without “substantial progress” to reform WTO rules within 90 days, Washington would no longer treat as a developing country any WTO member “improperly declaring itself a developing country and inappropriately seeking the benefit of flexibilities in WTO rules and negotiations,” the statement said.
Trump’s order directs Lighthizer’s office to “use all available means to secure changes at the WTO” with the cooperation of other countries where possible.
Lighthizer applauded the move.
“This unfairness disadvantages Americans who play by the rules, undermines negotiations at the WTO and creates an unlevel playing field,” he said in a statement.
While Trump’s statement points to multiple countries that benefit from the developing nation designation, it focuses mostly on China.
The statement says that seven of the 10 wealthiest economies in the world claim developing country status, as do Mexico, South Korea and Turkey, which are members of the G20.
It is unclear how the measure would change US policy in practice, although it likely could open the door to even more tariffs against Beijing.
Jennifer Hillman, a former top US trade official who served at the WTO, questioned the rationale, since the benefits granted to nations with the special status in most cases has long passed.
“Therefore even self-declared developing countries are now obliged to meet most of the same legal requirements that the US and other developed countries must meet,” she said.
Any new tariffs Trump wants to impose would still have to be justified under US law, which requires an investigation into whether the developing country status harms US companies.
Trump’s unilateral approach has already angered countries such as India and South Africa, she added.
However, Trump said that allowing wealthy economies to claim developing country status would harm “economies that truly require special and differential treatment.”
Developing country status in the WTO allows governments longer timelines for implementing free-trade commitments, as well as the ability to protect some domestic industries and maintain subsidies.
The Trump administration has nearly throttled key WTO proceedings by refusing to name new members of the appellate body for the dispute settlement system, which would cease to function later this year.
Hillman said that is a much more pressing threat, since it would block the WTO’s ability to enforce rules and for nations to comply with decisions.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
RSS