Apocalypse Now: The WTO Dispute Settlement System in the Times of Trump

Abstract

This chapter examines the crisis of the WTO dispute settlement system (DSS) in connection with the blocking of the appointment of new Appellate Body (AB) members by the United States (US). In this context, it investigates the reasons behind this decision and evaluates the reactions of the other WTO Members. It also reviews different solutions which have been proposed /implemented in order to save the AB and the WTO DSS more generally. The article concludes that the objective of the Trump administration was to freeze the WTO DSS, which it considered as a mechanism that could have potentially restricted its freedom to implement its unilateral trade policy, while the specific legal objections were simply instrumental in that process. The chapter recognizes that it is still too early to draw any general conclusions on the stance of the new US administration over the current multilateral trade architecture. However, considering the new American approach to multilateralism in general, one may remain moderately optimistic vis-à-vis the revival of the AB.