Fate of WTO’s Top Court Effectively Sealed by US Blocking Strategy

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo arrives for the General Council at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 9, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The United States said on Dec. 9 that it won’t back a proposal to allow the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) top court to continue.

President Donald Trump is a longtime critic of the organization, and for two years, his administration has been blocking appointments to the WTO’s seven-member Appellate Body that rules on trade disputes, with U.S. officials saying the court had overstepped its mandate.