Boao'S Hot Debate On Unilateralism Undermines WTO Zhou Xiaochuan: WTO Reform Needs Sincerity And Alternatives.

"The World Trade Organization (WTO) is plunged into an unprecedented crisis, and there is no other better word to describe its status." James Backus, chief justice of the former WTO appellate body, directed the spearhead of the crisis to President Trump, saying Trump was "doing everything in its power to destroy the rule of law in WTO".

In March 27th, on the second day of the annual forum of Boao forum for Asia, a sub forum focusing on WTO reform was smells of gunpowder, almost becoming a critique of Trump. The 7 speakers, as well as speeches or hints, criticized Trump's destruction of the multilateral trading system since he came to power. Gutierrez, the former US business secretary, asked with great concern, "if a big country decides to quit WTO, will WTO still be able to run?"

Gutierrez said that in the United States, there are always some Republicans who regard international treaties as a threat to the sovereignty of the state. They have no confidence in international organizations such as WTO, Paris agreement, TPP or NATO. Barkis added that in the United States, not only the Republican Party, but also the Democratic Party has this problem. "In fact, joining an international treaty means a manifestation of sovereignty rather than a weakening. I can't agree with President Trump. "

Arroyo, former president of Philippines, said at the forum that WTO was founded at the peak of globalization. Now globalization has entered the third stage. "In the past, the United States has taken a positive attitude towards globalisation, but now it is becoming more conservative and has not fulfilled its Doha commitments." But she said, "to my delight, China has now become the main driver of WTO."

To promote WTO reform, Zhou Xiaochuan, vice chairman of the Boao forum for Asia and President of the former Central Bank of China, stressed that all parties' willingness to reform must be sincere. "If the one or two big economies insist on adopting unilateralism and focus on signing many bilateral FTA agreements and taking them as the main components of the future trading system, WTO reform will face many challenges and difficulties."

From this perspective, Zhou Xiaochuan pointed out, "we must also have second sets and third plans." "If WTO reform is not very successful, we need a set of other ways to support the free trade system and curb protectionism," Zhou Xiaochuan said.

WTO trade dispute settlement mechanism faces lockup risk

"WTO is in a crisis. The biggest challenge is that it is marginalized." Chong Quan, President of China WTO Research Association, pointed out that precisely because of what some countries have done, the authority of WTO has been seriously damaged. He stressed that the most urgent problem now is to revive the dispute settlement mechanism.

Since the WTO Doha round of negotiations has been stagnant, the trade dispute settlement mechanism has become the most authoritative and effective part of WTO. The appellate body, as the final settlement organ of WTO dispute settlement, has the reputation of "a pearl on the crown of WTO", and its importance is self-evident.

The WTO appellate body is usually composed of 7 judges, but now it has dropped to the lowest number of 3. It has been unable to deal with cases of interest, and two of them will end in December this year. WTO should have completed the appointment of the judge as soon as possible. However, since February 2017, the United States has been rejecting the proposal of other members to start the selection procedure of the appellate body immediately.

As for the seriousness of the problem, Barkis explained that by December, the appellate judge may be left alone - a judge from China. But in fact, the crisis may happen sooner, because many judges are facing health problems. "If only two judges are left, they will be limited to the right of WTO members to appeal."

Therefore, Basque believes that rather than the appellate body needs to reform now, it needs more support. "If we do not enhance the authority of the appellate body, it may encourage Trump's arrogance." To this end, he appealed to consider increasing the number of judges of appellate bodies from seven to ten; to enable them to be full-time rather than part-time; and allow judges to continue their re-election after second terms.

Trump has publicly criticized WTO for being "disaster" and "always unfair to the United States". His government also claimed that the decision of the WTO appellate body, especially against the US against foreign unfair trade, was excessive expansion. For these allegations, Barkis responded, "why only one member of the 164 members of the WTO feels that the appellate judge has exceeded the authority?" He stressed that the appellate body may not be perfect, but it is working in accordance with the rules.

The principle of special and differential treatment for developing members should not be denied.

During the discussion of the day, the question of the principle of special and differential treatment for developing members aroused heated discussion among the guests. Arroyo stressed that in the process of WTO reform, we must realize that all members are in different historical stages of development, have different political systems and industrial structures, and the principle of special and differential treatment of developing members should not be denied. "Reform must make all countries feel fair, big or small, whether developed or developing."

In January 15th, the United States submitted an analysis paper to the WTO entitled "an undifferentiated WTO: self identified status of development threat system relevance". Subsequently, a draft decision of the General Council was proposed to abolish the right to enjoy special and differential treatment in a large wholesale exhibition.

In response, in February 15th, China, India, South Africa and Venezuela jointly submitted to the WTO an analytical paper entitled "special and differential treatment for developing members to promote sustainable development and ensure continuity". Since then, 6 developing members have jointly signed the document.

On this issue, Zhou Xiaochuan said at the forum that China has maintained the status of developing countries for many years, not only speaking for its own interests, but also contributing to the development of the world as a whole. "I think we will continue to do so in this respect."

At the same time, Zhou Xiaochuan also said that in the process of adjustment to the WTO rules, the issue of preferential treatment for developing members might be involved. "We can discuss the situation according to the specific circumstances, but what we can not ignore is that we need to help many low-income countries to achieve development and benefit from the global trading system."

"Special and differential treatment" is a special term for WTO. Zhang Xiangchen, permanent representative of China to the WTO, once summed up its contents with 4 "L", that is, less, narrowing the scope of concession (reducing tariffs); lower, giving a lower margin; longer, a longer time for concessions; later, concessions began later.

"In the past, developed countries have provided a lot of support to their agriculture, and now developing countries need to safeguard their own interests in agriculture." Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General of India Federation of Commerce and industry, said. Zhang Xiangchen once pointed out: "in 2016, the average per capita agricultural subsidies in the United States were 70, 176 and 267 times that of China, Brazil and India respectively. Therefore, just like the experts of the China World Trade Center joint conference, it is a kind of discrimination to simply implement the peer-to-peer market opening among members whose economic strength is not equal."

Chong Quan said frankly that the issue of preferential treatment for developing members is a very difficult topic in the reform of WTO. He believes that this will bring great difficulties to the negotiations on the WTO reform. (Editor: Xin Ling, if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact: xinlingfly2007@163.com)