Pakistan has proposed a draft decision for the World Trade Organization’s next ministerial conference that calls for substantial “response measures” and the “needed space” with requisite policy tools for developing and least-developed countries to tackle unforeseen multiple crises arising from climate change and the worsening international economy, WTD has learned. Islamabad underscored the need for a “pro-active decision by WTO Members that would allow the needed space for developing countries and LDCs facing a crisis to respond expeditiously and with required policy tools to avoid deepening and spreading of the crisis.”

China is calling for maintaining “the stability of global industrial and supply chains” at the World Trade Organization to ensure “an open, non-discriminatory and predictable Multilateral Trading System,” our correspondent reports. At the concluding day of the WTO’s General Council meeting Tuesday, China – in a veiled hit at the United States – called on WTO members to adopt “ a responsible attitude” for strengthening cooperation and for restoring the stable operation of global industrial and supply chains as soon as possible, and promote steady recovery of the world economy.”

The prospects for a robust dispute settlement system undergirding a strong enforcement pillar at the World Trade Organization appear grim given continued disagreements among members about reform, our …

The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has advanced the European Union's request to establish a compliance panel, seeking to verify whether the United States has adhered to an earlier panel ruling concerning US countervailing duties on Spanish ripe olives.  The United States continued to abstain from agreeing to a proposal to initiate the selection process for filling vacancies on the Appellate Body. This marks the 68th instance of such a blockade by the US.

Developing countries such as India, South Africa, Türkiye, Argentina and Indonesia among others are pushing back against attempts by a group of countries, including the European Union and Australia, and supported by the United States, insisting that electronic transmissions “covers anything transmitted by telecommunications” and also include “content” through the internet under the World Trade Organization’s e-commerce moratorium, our correspondent writes.

Legislation (HR 4004) approving the first phase of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is on its way to the President’s desk after being passed by the Senate. The US-Taiwan deal is not a traditional free trade agreement and the Administration does not believe it requires Congressional approval. But both chamber of Congress approved the legislation in order to assert Congressional authority over trade and set transparency and consultation requirement for any further agreements negotiated under the initiative.

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala apparently received a frosty response from several members, including the United States, to her “modest budget increase of CHF 14.56 million (around $ 15 million) for 2024,” and an additional CHF 1.94 million for 2025, according to our correspondent.

Several global trade concerns were raised in the Council for Trade in Goods meeting held on the 6th and 7th of July.   While no new trade concerns were presented in the meeting, numerous issues were discussed in the context of the 37 previously raised trade concerns, including Export Controls and Environmental Conservation.

Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, Chair of the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations, intends to concentrate the fourth World Trade Organization's "Fish Week" on in-depth exploration of …

During the June 30 DSB meeting, Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard announced that Venezuelan Jorge Castro, currently serving as the Chief of the Training Section at the WTO's Institute for …

The new chair for the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Council says there is little forward movement on extending paragraph eight of the TRIPS Agreement on vaccines to COVID-19 diagnostics and …

In the third of a series of "Fish Weeks" conducted from 5-9 June, World Trade Organization (WTO) members deliberated over six new proposals aimed at restricting subsidies that lead to overfishing and …

The African Group (AG) has proposed a series of significant reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, particularly the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). This …

In a concentrated effort to overhaul dispute resolution proceedings within the World Trade Organization (WTO), Marco Molina, Deputy Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the WTO, updated  WTO members on the progress made in resolving dispute settlement reform,

Argentina has initiated a dispute with the United States through the World Trade Organization (WTO), challenging the U.S. anti-dumping measures on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) originating from …

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), seems to have given little attention to the unresolved significant issues pertinent to developing countries, particularly in the Doha work program, for the upcoming 13th ministerial conference, according to inside sources.

Amid significant opposition, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala proposed an October meeting of senior officials instead of her earlier suggestion of July, according to our correspondent. "Following feedback from more than 100 delegations, I suggest we hold the Senior Officials Meeting in October," Okonjo-Iweala said at an informal Heads of Delegations gathering. The July 20 meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee and heads of delegation will be rescheduled if members agree to the October meeting.

World Trade Organization (WTO) members remain divided on the extension of intellectual property flexibility for COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics under paragraph eight of the MC12 TRIPS Agreement, reached on June 17 last year, and substantive progress on the moratorium on e-commerce duties continues to elude delegates.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council convened Monday to discuss various proposals for reforming the organization, a process met with mixed reviews due to the unconventional method …

Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Angus King (I-Maine) are calling on the World Trade Organization so that China is no longer able to designate itself as a developing country, which allows it to receive the same benefits as much poorer nations.