The future of WTO is being played out in the trade disputes not only between US and China but also between the US and EU. In the Airbus dispute between the US and the EU that lasted for 15 years, WTO recently concluded that Airbus had received illegal subsidies and ruled in favour of the US. The US is planning to impose tariffs on the EU, worth around 6.8 billion dollars. France has announced that it is ready to impose retaliatory measures. Trump tariffs against China and Chinese countermeasures bypass the rules and regulations of the WTO, thereby undermining WTO’s authority and dispute settlement body in international trade.
Euractiv has done an interview, regarding the future of WTO and the EU-Asia connectivity initiative (started by EU and Japan), with Xuejun Guo [Chinese official: ‘Without a strong WTO, connectivity means nothing]. He is the deputy director-general of the Department of International Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. As the title of the article suggests he argues that connectivity, including connectivity constructed through BRI or the EU-Asia connectivity, cannot amount to anything if WTO’s authority is undermined through tariffs and counter-tariffs. He recommends that China and the EU work harder together to keep WTO’s authority intact.
About the EU-Asia connectivity initiative and whether it contradicts the logic of the BRI, he says that there is no such contradiction as China has good working relations with both the EU (as the main market destination for several BRI corridors) and Japan (that works with China in third countries and their markets, such as Thailand). He goes on to argue that such initiatives can be mutually beneficial for both sides including for the uplifting of the quality of BRI projects. Creating better synergy between connectivity initiatives can indeed be beneficial for all sides.
Better (geo)economic synergy between these three actors (China, EU, and Japan) will also ultimately reduce security tensions between these major actors in the larger geography of Eurasia, a region which is increasingly becoming the geo-economic center of gravity in the world. The US is becoming increasingly unilateralist in its approach to global trade and geopolitics. Cooperation between such Eurasian actors can bring some balance and stability to global economic and political systems.
M. Forough
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