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Chair urges strong U.S. leadership at WTO ministerial, backs permanent digital-trade moratorium
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Summary
The committee chair opened a hearing on U.S. objectives for the World Trade Organization's MC14, urging congressional oversight, WTO reform, and a permanent moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions to benefit U.S. businesses.
The chair opened a congressional hearing on U.S. objectives for the World Trade Organization's 14th ministerial conference (MC 14), saying the session comes at "an important time for international trade." The chair said Congress broadly supports strong U.S. leadership at the WTO and expressed alignment with the administration's priorities heading into the ministerial in Cameroon.
The chair framed the administration's goals as rebalancing global trade by increasing market access for U.S. exports, removing unfair tariff and non-tariff barriers, and encouraging new production investment in the United States. She said the U.S. has consistently pushed trading partners at the WTO to resolve those issues but has encountered repeated headwinds, and she expressed optimism that current leadership has shifted that dynamic.
Highlighting a structural challenge, the chair noted the WTO's consensus rule allows a small number of countries to block negotiated outcomes. "Real negotiated outcomes are time and time again undermined by a handful of spoiler countries," she said, and argued that undermines progress on long-standing priorities such as a stronger agriculture agreement and standards for emerging industries.
On digital trade, the chair specifically praised the administration's position on maintaining the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions and said she is "hopeful we can finally agree to a permanent moratorium in Cameroon." She said a permanent moratorium would benefit American businesses across sectors and would reduce the risk that trading partners use duties on electronic transmissions as leverage in future negotiations.
The chair urged members to pursue concrete reform proposals at and after MC 14, rather than open-ended scoping exercises that produce vague objectives. She emphasized the work should continue beyond the ministerial and called for sustained congressional support and oversight of the U.S. negotiating strategy.
The chair yielded to Ranking Member Sanchez for an opening statement, transitioning the hearing to the next participant.
