Why Have Developing Countries Soured on Multilateralism?
While political disputes over specific provisions in trade agreements are typical, developing countries’ recent opposition to an extended digital-tax moratorium is emblematic of a deeper problem. Many have concluded that the World Trade Organization no longer has anything to offer them – and they may have a point.
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NEW HAVEN – Multilateralism is waning, and one of the world’s leading multilateral institutions, the World Trade Organization, is in crisis, because the United States has been blocking new appointments to its dispute settlement mechanism’s Appellate Body since 2018. In the run-up to the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference last month, some optimists hoped to see progress on specific issues, such as an agreement not to impose tariffs on digital commerce, but expectations were generally low.