In the face of possible disengagement by the United States following threats against the WTO by new US President Donald Trump, EU trade ministers, meeting informally in Valletta on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 March, restated their firm support for the multilateral trade system governed by the WTO.
“Multilateralism is the future of trade, and we firmly believe that it is the only way how we can increase economic growth and prosperity”, Malta’s Economy Minister Christian Cardona told the press on Friday morning.
“The international situation has changed and we have to have a clear statement that the EU is for open and free trade. We have to make clear what the EU is standing for. We are very much committed to WTO, we believe in the system. We had yesterday an interesting debate with Roberto Azevedo. Everyone in the room was very clear, we stick to the WTO”, stated German Secretary of State for the Economy Matthias Machnig.
“We have to take Donald Trump’s threats on the WTO and the UN very seriously”, French Secretary of State for Trade Matthias Fekl told us. “The best possible response to Trump is for Europe to become the entity that upholds rules for globalisation, that upholds the idea that public authority has to be respected, that democratic choices must not be challenged, that social and environmental issues must increasingly become a binding part of economic issues”, he added.
“We are in a world with more and more protectionism with Brexit and the election in the USA. It’s important for the European Union to be a leader in the multilateral approach”, said Belgian Foreign and Trade Minister Didier Reynders said. “The EU must try to get the new US administration on board, even though that will be very difficult”, he added. He also called for “things to change” in trade policy, arguing that “we need to talk to SMEs, not just multinationals, to have social clauses, to have more inclusive trade and to work hand-in-hand with the WTO and the ILO”.
The EU is determined “to show Trump’s administration that the world is going forward and not stopped by their sudden cautiousness about free trade”, stated Finnish Trade Minister Kai Mykkänen.
“Hungary is very interested in the WTO. Hungary is an open, export-driven economy. We are very interested in free-trade agreements and with the work of the WTO”, insisted Hungarian Minister of State Istvan Mikola.
Acknowledging that “the signals (coming from the US) are worrying”, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stressed that “we need an active United States on the multilateral scene”. “We need them to engage, we need to cooperate with them, we need to be constructive, and we hope that they will”, she said.
At a working dinner on Thursday evening, the ministers and Malmström discussed what they are hoping for from the 11th WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires (Argentina) from 11 to 14 December and the longer-term vision for the WTO with its Director General Roberto Azevedo. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)