Trump says he will pull US out of World Trade Organisation ‘if they don’t shape up’
US president said last month America has been treated ‘very badly’ by the organisation for many years and the trade body needs to ‘change their ways’
US President Donald Trump said he would pull out of the World Trade Organisation if it does not treat America better, targeting a cornerstone of the international trading system.
“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump said on Thursday, adding that the agreement establishing the body “was the single worst trade deal ever made”.
A US withdrawal from the WTO might even be more significant for the global economy than Trump’s growing trade war with China, undermining the post-second world war system that the US helped build.
Trump said last month that the US was at a big disadvantage after being treated “very badly” by the WTO for many years and the Geneva-based body needs to “change their ways”.
Lighthizer has accused the WTO dispute-settlement system of interfering with US sovereignty, particularly on anti-dumping cases. The US has been blocking the appointment of judges to the WTO’s appeals body, raising the possibility that it could cease to function in the coming years.