Although the United States claims that it wants to restore the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it crippled five years ago, trade diplomats remain skeptical of the United States’ intentions. Critics wonder if the most recent wave of proposed reforms of the WTO will lead to another impasse now in its fifth year. Without a fully functioning dispute system, the WTO cannot enforce its rules, leaving it in a crisis.
An approach proposed by this Article that has escaped the attention of WTO reformers is the use of the dispute systems in the Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) that are proliferating around the world to resolve WTO disputes. PTAs create trade areas providing potential benefits above those of the WTO. Every WTO member is also a member of one or more PTAs. These PTA dispute systems are intact, fully functioning, and modeled on the dispute system of the WTO. Many of these systems can be used to resolve either treaty or WTO disputes. Some treaties have a clause that any violation of the WTO is a violation of the PTA.
The WTO can play a vital role by serving as a central forum for the use of the PTA dispute systems. All PTA members have permanent missions in Geneva, the site of the WTO. The WTO can provide facilities and its staff includes lawyers, economists, statisticians, financial analysts and interpreters who can assist the PTAs. With all PTA dispute systems centralized in the WTO and the continuing creation of new PTAs, clearly the wave of the future, the WTO will have a workable dispute system that it can build upon and improve.
Keywords: International Trade, Dispute Resolution, WTO, Preferential Trade Agreements, Appellate Body
JEL Classification: K41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Chow, Daniel Chee King and Sheldon, Ian, The Future of Trade Dispute Resolution in a Post-WTO World (July 24, 2024). Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 872, Texas Int’l L.J. (forthcoming 2025) , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4904499 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4904499
55 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
United States
614 292-0948 (Phone)
614 292-3202 (Fax)
234 Agricultural Administration Building
2120 Fyffe Road
Columbus, OH 43210-1067
United States
614-292-2194 (Phone)