DG: US seeks reforms in WTO's functioning

New Delhi: The US has raised concerns about the functioning of the World Trade Organisation and asked for reforms, WTO director general Roberto Azevedo said on Monday, as global trade tensions increased.

Mr Azevedo told reporters that the global trade environment was quite risky and the trade body had sought an “open and honest” conversation with its members.

“This is a moment we are facing many challenges inside and outside WTO,” he said.

The director general said the outcome of the meeting, which does not have a fixed agenda, here will be “useful to the conversations that we will be having in Geneva to try and move forward on all the items”.

The meeting is the first time WTO members have gathered since Donald Trump’s announcement last week of a 25 per cent tariff on US imports of steel and 10 per cent on aluminum.

Two senior Indian trade ministry officials said a group of WTO members including China, Japan, India and South Korea are likely to protest against the US decision to raise import taxes. They, however, said the final stance would be known only after discussions on Tuesday.

Indian trade minister Suresh Prabhu has said he hopes the meeting, which is also attended by deputy US trade representative Dennis Shea, could push the multilateral process forward after talks in Buenos Aires last December failed amid fears of a trade war.

Mr Azevedo said Washington maintained that global trade had changed since the WTO, which deals with the global rules of trade between nations, was set up in 1995.

“The US wants some upgrade and reforms (in the WTO) and the conversations with the US are going on,” he said.

Even though the US has declined to declare the steel and aluminum tariffs at the WTO, they can still come under its jurisdiction if countries affected raise complaints.

New Delhi is worried that a direct confrontation with the Trump administration could impact the interest of software exports to the US, estimated at nearly 60 per cent of $110 billion annual software exports.

Some local industries have suggested the government seek an exemption alongside other US allies instead of raising complaints with the World Trade Organisation. India’s steel and aluminum exports to the US amount to about $1.5 billion and account for about 2 per cent of that country’s total steel and aluminum imports.

Meanwhile, Washington has raised complaints at the WTO against India’s export subsidies, estimated to be $7 billion a year, which it claims flout multilateral trading rules.