USTR Katherine Tai convened the first of what may be a series of meetings with key WTO counterparts on reform of the dispute settlement process (DSP). The U.S. first began blocking the appointment of judges to the WTO’s Appellate Body (AB) during the Obama Administration and has continued that position ever since. The U.S. has been protesting what it asserts has been the AB’s creation of new trade obligations through its rulings rather than strict adherence to the actual language of existing trade agreements.  There is somewhat of a dichotomy between the American political view toward the WTO AB and domestic courts of law. American progressives tend toward what is called non-originalism with the U.S. Constitution, meaning...

TAGS – North America, Macroeconomics