WTO says Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods violate global trade rules
- For practical purposes, however, the decision may have little binding effect
- US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says the ruling is evidence of the WTO’s inability to hold China to account
The World Trade Organisation said on Tuesday that US tariffs on Chinese goods, imposed by President Donald Trump in his trade war with Beijing, violated international rules.
A panel of three trade experts made the ruling after US President Donald Trump unilaterally imposed tariffs on more than US$350 billion worth of Chinese imports, which he said was in response to Beijing’s unfair trade practices.
While the ruling bolstered China’s position in the trade war, it may have little binding effect. In December, Trump blocked all new appointments to the WTO’s dispute resolution court, making it effectively non-functional.
Terry Haines of the Washington-based analysis firm Pangaea Policy called Tuesday’s ruling “meaningless”.
“It’s a mistake to think of today’s ruling as an international rebuke,” he said. “It’s more like a League of Nations scenario, with the failing international body trying to remain relevant while its members pretend to pay it heed but freely ignoring its rules and charting their own paths.”
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James Bacchus of the University of Central Florida, who twice was chief judge of the WTO Appellate Body, said: “The ruling by the panel is correct. Unfortunately, in the absence of the Appellate Body, the United States can simply appeal this ruling into the void, and the members of the WTO will be unable to adopt the panel report.”