Russia says US 'will suffer' if Trump pulls out of WTO
President threatens to withdraw from World Trade Organisation 'if they don't shape up'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Russia says the US “will suffer” if Donald Trump carries through his threat to pull the planet’s biggest economy out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
"The US economy will suffer as well from the game without rules," Russia’s economy ministry said in a statement on Friday. “The United States is the world's second-largest exporter. They are interested in favourable and stable conditions for access to foreign markets.”
Moscow’s intervention came after Mr Trump warned in an interview with Bloomberg that America could withdraw from the WTO “if they don’t shape up”.
The US president has repeatedly complained the US is treated unfairly in global trade and has blamed the 1994 agreement, which regulates international deals and helps to resolve disputes between nations.
Last month Mr Trump claimed the body had “been treating us very badly for many, many years and that’s why we were at a big disadvantage”.
He said: “If they don’t treat us properly we will be doing something."
But the Russian economy ministry warned the Trump administration would have to agree individual trade agreements - likely to fall short of WTO terms - with each of its major trading partners.
"The United States will have to enter into trade agreements with all of their largest trading partners, including the European Union, China and other countries,” the statement read.
“It is not likely that the terms of such agreements that the US negotiators would manage to 'bargain' will be better for the US economy than the conditions that exist now within the WTO framework.”
Washington this week said it would block the reappointment of one of the WTO’s four remaining appeals judges next month, raising the risk of paralysing the body's dispute settlement system, which requires a minimum of three judges to operate.
The system looks set to break down when two other judges’ terms expire in December 2019, but it could seize up sooner if any judges recuse themselves from a case for legal reasons.
Mr Trump has claimed the WTO rules against the US in "almost all" disputes, but trade experts say the US wins a similar proportion of cases to other countries, if not more.
If the US veto paralyses the dispute system it would end 23 years of WTO enforcement, the keystone of international efforts to prevent trade protectionism, at a time of heightened global trade tensions.
Despite Mr Trump's remarks, his administration has sought the WTO's help in dealing with retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, the European Union, Canada, Turkey and Mexico after the US slapped duties on steel and aluminium.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments