Biden as bad as Trump on WTO and trade

I blogged in 2018:

The WTO dispute resolution system is vital. It is what allows global trade agreements to be enforced. What the US is doing doesn’t just affect countries trading with the US, but every WTO member.

If the US cripples the appellate body, then (for example) Australia could once again start blocking our apples on spurious grounds. And it would be impossible for us to get a binding ruling preventing them from doing so.

This was in response to Trump refusing to allow the US to vote for more members of the appellate body, which means it would be inquorate and there could be no final determinations. What the USG was doing was especially bad as it harms the entire rules based system.

I assume that Biden would have returned the WTO appeals board to a quorum, but alas it seems he is just as protectionist as Trump and is continuing to cripple the WTO. Basically the US wants to be exempt from adverse decisions, so long as they claim what they are doing is justified on national security grounds.

So it is rather depressing that it is now the bipartisan policy of the United States that the WTO and the rules based trade system should be crippled. Time to set up a new WTO without them!

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