US Trade Chief Signals Limited WTO Role After Failed Talks
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the WTO will play a limited role after a failed meeting in Cameroon. He plans to seek trade deals with allies.
The United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, announced on Monday that the World Trade Organization (WTO) will likely have a diminished influence on global trade policy moving forward. This assessment follows a failed ministerial gathering in Cameroon that concluded without a consensus on key reform issues. Greer expressed significant disappointment after the meeting reached an impasse, primarily due to the expiration of a long-standing moratorium on e-commerce tariffs.
The collapse of the negotiations occurred after Brazil and Turkey blocked the extension of the e-commerce moratorium, which had prevented countries from imposing duties on digital transmissions for nearly three decades. Greer noted that the lack of commitment to a broadly acceptable reform agenda among member states has forced the American administration to reconsider its reliance on the multilateral body.
