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House hearing spotlights WTO reform issues: dispute settlement, consensus blocks and Chinas developing-country status
Summary
Members and witnesses debated options to fix the WTOs stalled negotiating function and broken appellate body, questioned how consensus decision-making and self-designation of developing-country status (notably by China) affect enforcement, and recommended a mix of reforms and outside-WTO strategies.
Lawmakers used the hearing to press witnesses on longstanding institutional problems at the World Trade Organization, including a nonfunctional appellate body, consensus-based decision making that enables holdouts, and the problem of large economies self-identifying as developing countries.
Bruce Hirsch and Kelly Ann Shaw described how the WTOs rulebook and committee work still provide value, but that structural constraints make negotiating…
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