The World Trade Organization is not responsible for disputes over security and other non-trade issues, Liam Fox, one of several candidates to be the new head of the WTO, told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Friday.
The organization, created in 1995 to expand world trade beyond goods, has been embroiled in delicate political battles in recent years, particularly since President Donald Trump came to the White House and took a protectionist approach to trade. international.
Trump has said that the WTO is “broken” and that China has taken advantage of the institution. It has also used trade ties between the United States and other world economies as an influence on digital taxes and security issues.
In recent days, the United States ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston for the theft of intellectual property. China has retaliated with the closure of the American consulate in Chengdu.
“It is very important to understand what the World Trade Organization is for and what it is not,” Liam Fox, one of eight candidates to assume leadership of the WTO, told CNBC’s Julianna Tatelbaum.
“What we cannot do is allow bilateral disputes or regional disputes over security or other issues to totally contaminate the trading system so that it stops working effectively because there will be broader consequences than just the parties to those disputes,” he said. Fox.
Britain’s first post-Brexit secretary of international trade Liam Fox gives a press conference on July 17, 2020 in Geneva.
FABRICE COFFRINI | AFP | fake pictures
The WTO was marked by the United States’ decision in December to block the appointment of two new members to the appeals body. The move has meant that the WTO has been unable to rule on new trade disputes between member countries since then.
The election of a new WTO director-general comes at a time when officials from the European Union and the United States agree that the organization needs to be reformed and its rules updated. However, there is no consensus on how to do it.
“We need to get an idea of the importance of the rule base system, we cannot make some countries obey the rules they want but not the rules they do not want and the alternative to a rules based system in trade would be free for all and I think we have to understand the consequences of that and it goes far beyond the economy, “Fox told CNBC.
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