Washington has, at last, officially broken its silence by publishing a report justifying its blocking of the WTO dispute settlement system’s Appellate Body (AB) on Tuesday, 11 February.
Written by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the text is primarily a (long) list of grievances in which Washington highlights the extent of the harm caused by what it sees as the AB straying from its mission. The [Appellate] Body “has added to U.S. obligations and diminished U.S. rights by failing to comply with WTO rules, addressing issues it has no authority to address, taking actions it has no authority to take, and interpreting WTO agreements” in a manner contrary to the mandate of its members. “These actions have harmed the United States and its citizens, workers and businesses and have undermined the effectiveness of the WTO dispute settlement system”, the USTR added in a statement.
But the report goes a step further when it questions the very legitimacy of the AB’s decisions: the text also reads, “There is no legitimacy under our democratic, constitutional system for the nation to submit to a rule imposed by three individuals sitting in Geneva, with neither agreement by the United States nor approval by the United States Congress”. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)