World Trade Organization Losing Trade Focus, Too Easy On Some Developing Nations: United States

Buenos Aires: U.S. President Donald Trump s trade chief said on Monday that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is losing its focus on trade negotiations in favor of litigation and was going too easy on wealthier developing countries such as China.With Trump s America First trade agenda casting a cloud over the WTO s 11th ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires representatives of other major members criticized protectionism and advocated a stronger multilateral trading system while acknowledging the WTO s shortcomings.U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer who has said he does not want major agreements out of the meeting voiced concern that the WTO was becoming a litigation-centered organization. Too often members seem to believe they can gain concessions through lawsuits that they could never get at the negotiating table he said. We have to ask ourselves whether this is good for the institution and whether the current litigation structure makes sense. Too many countries were not following WTO rules he complained and too many wealthier members had been given unfair exemptions as developing countries. We need to clarify our understanding of development within the WTO. We cannot sustain a situation in which new rules can only apply to a few and that others will be given a pass in the name of self-proclaimed development status Lighthizer told the conference s opening session.He said five of the six richest countries claim developing country status at the WTO without providing evidence to back up the assertion. A Lighthizer spokeswoman later said he was referring to the six countries with the highest gross domestic product per capita according to International Monetary Fund measurements.Five including Qatar and Singapore claim developing status which provides longer times to implement WTO agreements and more opportunities to boost trade.Ahead of the meeting the United States blocked efforts to draft a joint statement emphasizing the centrality of the global trade system and the need to aid development. Its opposition has raised concerns that the WTO will not be able to accomplish even modest goals such as addressing fishing and agricultural subsidies at the conference. We need to have a clear objective in mind European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said. For the European Union this is clear: to preserve and to strengthen the rules-based multilateral trading system. Swipes At ChinaTrump has indicated his preference for bilateral deals over the multilateral system embodied by the WTO. The United States has vetoed new judges for trade disputes pushing the organization into a crisis.Several countries delegates criticized that delay on Monday without mentioning the United States. South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong whose resignation as a WTO appellate judge this year created one of the openings said members should promptly fill all the vacancies. We need to collectively and expeditiously resolve this impasse Indian Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu told the conference.Lighthizer said it was impossible to negotiate new rules when many of the current ones were not being followed and added that too many members viewed exemptions from WTO rules as a path to faster growth.In a thinly veiled swipe at China s trade practices Lighthizer said the United States was leading negotiations to correct the sad performance of many members in notification and transparency. Japan s Trade and Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko said Japan would support efforts to boost reporting standards.The United States is backing the EU in its resistance to recognizing China as a market economy arguing the government unfairly intervenes in the economy. The case is before the WTO and a victory for Beijing could dramatically lower tariffs on imports of Chinese goods.Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said on Monday that while trade protection was rising no country would be able to succeed in isolation and that WTO rules were critical to protecting globalization. Let us join hands and take real action to uphold the authority and efficacy of the WTO Zhong said. Thomson Reuters 2017(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States on Monday said that India China and Brazil should not be treated on par with poor countries at the World Trade Organization prompting the Indian government to raise objections The Times of India reported. We cannot sustain a situation in which new rules can only apply to the few and that others will be given a pass in the name of self-proclaimed development status US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said at the World Trade Organization s Ministerial Conference in Argentina s Capital Buenos Aires. He was referring to differential treatment provided to developing countries under World Trade Organization rules. There is something wrong in our view when five of the six richest countries in the world presently claim developing country status Lighthizer added. Indeed we should all be troubled that so many members appear to believe that they would be better off with exemptions to the rules. In response India s Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said at a press conference later that the country is fulfilling its global obligation of pulling millions of people out of poverty and that it was the right candidate for special treatment under World Trade Organization rules. Nearly 98% of Indian farmers are low income or resource poor and most of them are engaged in subsistence farming he said according to The Hindu. Many of them have to deal with unfavourable agro-climatic conditions further compounded by climate change. My government is committed to doubling farmers incomes by 2022. Our circumstances make it imperative for us to balance trade liberalisation with the need to protect their livelihood. Prabhu added that though India s Gross Domestic Product may be rising fast its per capita income is much lower than that in developed countries. Special and differential treatment for developing countries is a very important part of the World Trade Organization s mandate and must be preserved he said. BUENOS AIRES: India on Tuesday upped the ante and demanded that the World Trade Organisation unequivocally endorse the centrality of the multilateral system give special treatment for developing countries and reiterate its commitment to the Doha Round apart from addressing its concerns on food security for it to back talks at the ministerial meeting. The tough posture came after the US sought to block a deal on public stockholding putting the WTO ministerial at risk of a collapse. During a meeting convened by Argentinian minister Susana Malcorra on Tuesday to broker peace between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu the American trade official made it clear that the US has problem with WTO system an official familiar with the deliberations said. Without naming the US an official statement from the government said that a major country s stand on public stockholding which impacts the minimum support price programme has posed a severe threat to a successful conclusion of the conference as there was a mandate to find a permanent solution by biennial meeting of ministers. India is surprised and deeply disappointed that despite an overwhelming majority of members reiterating it a major member country has reneged on a commitment made two years ago to deliver a solution of critical importance for addressing hunger in some of the poorest countries of the world. This has the potential to irreversibly damage the credibility of the WTO as a ministerial decision of all countries present in Nairobi has not been honoured the release said adding that there was support from over 100 of the 164 WTO member countries on all agriculture issues. These countries have been seeking reforms in the global agriculture trading system by first eliminating the most subsidies used mainly by the rich developed countries. In addition India said that the 53-member African Group and several developing countries have rallied around it and firmly backed the government s opposition to rules on e-commerce and including new issues such as investment facilitation and MSMEs into the WTO s agenda. While officials said that India will work towards a successful outcome they added that WTO s failure to find a permanent solution will not impact the food procurement programme. Amid fears that trade ministers may not be able to issue a joint declaration given the staunch opposition mounted by the US Indian officials said that they would endeavor to get the text from the conference s chair to recognize the decision on food security taken at Bali four years ago as well as the WTO decision in 2014 to ensure that the Doha reforms plan stays on course and there was no threat to the government s procurement programme via MSP. Argentina s centre-right president Mauricio Macri has come under heavy criticism for banning representatives of 26 international NGOs from attending a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference in Buenos Aires because of their postings on social media. The Argentinian government revoked accreditation for around 60 people and over the weekend deported two delegates who attempted to the enter the country for the biennial meeting. The activists represented 20 different groups including Friends of the Earth International and Global Justice Now. The legitimacy of this WTO meeting is affected by this unilateral act by the Macri administration said Petter Titland of the Norwegian NGO Attac Norge who returned to Buenos Aires on Monday after initially being forced to board a flight to neighbouring Brazil. According to Titland Argentinian officials said he had been expelled because of his social media postings. Argentina deports British journalist ahead of WTO conference Read more In a statement explaining its decision Argentina s foreign ministry said it had blacklisted NGO officials who had made explicit calls for manifestations of violence through social media expressing the intent to generate schemes of intimidation and chaos . The charge was roundly denied by Sally Burch a British journalist and NGO representative resident in Ecuador who was turned back when she arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday. Nothing is further from the truth Burch told the Guardian in a phone interview after returning to Quito. None of the blacklisted NGOs have been advocating violent protest. That would be against their principles and it would be against mine as well. According to the Financial Times Argentina at first refused to reverse its decision even under pressure from the WTO itself but it finally relented in the case of Titland three French citizens and one Belgian NGO representative. All three countries had moved at a ministerial level on behalf of the NGO representatives to provide guarantees of their behaviour and their organizations Argentina s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. In the case of Titland Norway s foreign minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide provided assurances he was not involved in violent actions or incited others to commit them either Argentina s foreign ministry said. Belgian NGO representative Michel Cermak was also only admitted after receiving assurances from Belgium s deputy prime minister and the ministry of foreign affairs of that country Argentina s foreign ministry added. In a tweet on Sunday the Norwegian foreign ministry seemed to chide Argentina for its ban. Glad that the Argentinian authorities will allow Petter Titland to attend WTO meeting after we have raised the matter on several levels. Participation & openness important the Norwegian foreign ministry said. But the effected delegates blasted Argentina s request for assurances of good behaviour from their respective governments. The only cases that have been resolved are those that were pressured at the ministerial level said Titland. Requiring the foreign ministries of countries such as Norway to spend a lot of time and effort on this is outrageous. Macri s people having been acting very unprofessional in this case. BUENOS AIRES: Jack Ma the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba today urged WTO members to adopt easier and transparent rules for e-commerce so as to support small businesses and encourage them to succeed in the global marketplace. E-commerce is future...it is the solution for small business Ma said. He was addressing a session to launch an initiative Enabling e-commerce to promote policies and practices for small businesses on the sidelines of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The presence of the world s leading e-commerce player at the WTO is significant as member countries are divided over the way the issue should be handled by the multilateral trade body. While some countries want to push e-commerce to the negotiating table India and others maintain that binding rules would restrict the policy space to deal with the emerging sector and favour the continuation of 1998 Work Programme with non-negotiating mandate. Ma said policies dealing with e-commerce should be improved and modernised as it is an important platform for small businesses. He said The problem with globalisation is that its benefits have not been made available to all. We cannot stop globalisation we must improve it. If businesses and government work together we can create a more inclusive trade model to expand the benefits of globalisation to those who have been left behind. The Enabling e-commerce initiative he added envisions a world where small businesses young people and developing countries can succeed in global marketplace. WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said that e-commerce can lift up small businesses around the world. The vibrant debate on these issues has shown the desire of many WTO members to bridge the digital divide and to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities of e-commerce said Azevedo. The Enabling e-commerce is a joint initiative of the WTO the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP). Founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Ma had came out with the concept of eWTP to bring small and medium-sized enterprises more fully into the global economy. BUENOS AIRES: In a first of its initiative the 164 nation World Trade Organization (WTO) has officially partnered with Jack Ma founder of Chinese e-retail major Alibaba and the World Economic Forum to promote opening cross border digital trade for small businesses. Ma s recently established Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) has been roped in with the objective of reducing barriers and making it easier for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand their trading capabilities worldwide. The three came together during the ongoing crucial ministerial conference of the WTO to launch a new initiative Enabling E-commerce to drive public-private dialogue on e-commerce. We cannot stop globalisation we must improve it Ma said and explained how e-commerce can benefit small companies start ups and individuals by ending the dominance of 60 000 big companies in global trade. The initiative clubs two contentious issues- e-commerce and SMEs-which do not have a mandate to be discussed in the multilateral trade organisation but are being pushed by developed countries aggressively. It is unheard of the WTO to get the private sector involved to lobby for an issue said an official. India and the African group have for quite sometime cautioned about e-commerce talks creeping in through backdoor channels like SMEs. In his plenary speech on Monday morning commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said that gains from e-commerce must not be confused with gains from negotiating binding rules in this area . Terming the initiative a valuable resource WTO director general Roberto Azevedo said: There has been a groundswell of interest in e-commerce at WTO and its potential to lift small businesses around the world. These are two contentious issues where the world is still divided but the launch of this initiative during the ministerial meeting proves which side the WTO favours said an expert on WTO issues. It seems the demands of developing and least developed countries have been completely sidelined...so much so that DG WTO himself shared the dais with the top bosses of these organisations at the ministerial the expert added. BUENOS AIRES: Consensus on safeguarding the very tenets of the rules based multilateral system continues to elude the World Trade Organization (WTO) even as the eleventh ministerial conference is about to enter its final day. The 164-country WTO has not been able to find unanimity to reaffirm any of the fundamentals of the trade body- Marrakech principle of multilateralism Doha Development Agenda and special and differential treatment (S&DT). Instead what is happening is an effort to change the definition of development to leave certain countries out of S&DT the US non involvement and going back on its commitment and new and non-trade issues entering the WTO even as the existing issues in agriculture remain unfinished. Independent decisions are expected to come on moratorium on ecommerce and TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints which shields intellectual property from non-violation complaints as very decision maker A work programme on fisheries subsidies is also likely because the issue already has a mandate and doesn t require a new one. Director General said there is a need to shift gears to forward looking outcomes WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell said in a press conference convened late evening on Tuesday. Late night talks are scheduled for fisheries and e-commerce as members try to thrash out a decision on these issues. Though host Argentina is trying to produce a text around consensus could be met through a drafting group an official said that the agriculture package had collapsed as the US has backtracked on its commitments made two years ago in Nairobi. The entire agriculture package is at risk because of one member said a government official. Earlier in the day Argentinian minister Susana Malcorra on Tuesday arranged a meeting between Indian commerce minister Suresh Prabhu and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in which the US expressed its with the WTO system. On its part India is hopeful of a ministerial declaration or a work programme especially for finding the permanent solution for which a mandate exits based on processes which are inclusive and involve consensus by the end of the talks. SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS Mexico William Ruiz Sánchez spends his days grilling burgers and slathering fried hot dogs with pepperoni and cheese at his family s restaurant. Refrigerators and fire-engine red tables provided by Coca-Cola feature the company s logo in exchange for exclusive sale of its drinks.Though members of the Ruiz family sometimes eat here they more often grab dinner at Domino s or McDonald s. For midday snacks they buy Doritos or Cheetos at Oxxo a convenience store chain so ubiquitous here that nutritionists and health care advocates mockingly refer to the city as San Cristóbal de las Oxxos.The family s experience in food service began in the 1960s when Mr. Ruiz s grandmother sold tamales and home-cooked food made with produce from a nearby farm; those same ingredients sustained her boys with vegetable stews beans tortillas and eggs. Meat was a luxury.Since then the Ruizes have become both consumers and participants in an extraordinary transformation of the country s food system one that has saddled them and millions of other Mexicans with diet-related illnesses. Advertisement Continue reading the main story It is a seismic shift that some nutritionists say has an underappreciated cause: free trade. Continue reading the main story