WTO Dispute System Is 'Broken,' but US Should Still Stay In, Former USTR Says
Although the "system is broken," the U.S. should "unequivocally" stay in the World Trade Organization, said Maria Pagan, former deputy U.S. trade representative to Geneva.
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Speaking at an event at the Georgetown Institute of International Economic Law, she acknowledged that the U.S. has slowed the WTO dispute settlement process, saying "it was not like one day we woke up and said, 'We're going to break this thing.' No, the system started to break, and we were pointing it out and wanting to fix it, and nobody would take us [up] on it."
She defended U.S. actions, taken while she was at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under both President Donald Trump (in his first term) and President Joe Biden, as necessary: "We had to do what we had to do, for people to pay attention." Even if allied countries insist that "you created the system, and you should be defending it and not tearing it down," those same allies are unwilling to do the work to fix the system.
Countries may complain about U.S. action but "anytime that the United States puts a specific proposal on the table, then the negotiation becomes about how you water that down to nothing," she said.
However, she defended the institution, saying that "there are disputes that are going on," and that it remains the only venue where countries "can have these conversations." Though it needs urgent reform, the WTO still has a role to play: "you can have one tier dispute settlement that should be able to give members what they need."
Asked how she would fix the WTO if she had a magic wand, she replied that she would focus on the safeguards agreement. She said the system as is doesn't allow governments to govern and impose necessary trade remedies. "If you make it so hard for governments to use those things, the bargain is askew," she said.
Regardless of its faults, she insists that it remains important: "If you asked me, should the United States be in the WTO, my answer is an unequivocal yes, we should stay there, be there and stay there, because it is the one place where you can have these conversations, right?"