The United States keeps blocking appointments of members of the World Trade organization's (WTO) appeals chamber, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2019) The United States keeps blocking appointments of members of the World Trade organization's (WTO) appeals chamber, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said Monday.The WTO's Appellate Body usually has seven members, which serve four-year terms, but there are only three of them at the moment, and two are set to complete their mandates on December 10. The United States has been blocking appointments after voicing numerous concerns about the organization. US President Donald Trump has said that the WTO rules against the United States too often and suggested Washington might withdraw from the organization.
"On the WTO, we are working with many other countries in order to see if there is anything .. we can do to make sure that the appellate body will still function after mid-December when probably the last arbitrator will leave. There is a process in Geneva, we have made a proposal from the European Union in order to address some of the concerns had by the US. Other countries have as well. So far we have not really seen any engagement by the United States yet, so we can't really negotiate with ourselves," Malmstrom said.
The commissioner remarked that the European Union would continue addressing the issue on the ministerial level and had not "given up."
