US trade protectionism a triple curse

A series of rules and systems established to safeguard global trade operations lies at the core of the global trading system. It is this global trading system that is being threatened by the trade protectionist moves of the United States.

First, by advocating unilateralism and ignoring the World Trade Organization's dispute-settlement mechanism, the US is undermining the authority of the WTO and violating multilateral trading system rules. By giving precedence to its domestic laws over WTO rules, the US is trying to show it can ride roughshod over international regulations and slap tariffs on other countries' goods at will. And by continuing to block the appointment of new WTO judges, the US intends to render the WTO dispute-settlement mechanism powerless.

Second, the US' moves threaten to disrupt the open and inclusive regional trade arrangements that protect other countries' interests and indirectly promote multilateral trade liberalization. The regional trade agreements the US administration has inked or aims to ink are clearly in favor of the US and damage other countries' interests, as they carry the "poison pill" provision that constrains signatory states' free trade negotiations with other countries.