For a global player like the EU, it must adequately respond to US unilateral actions and not give in to threats in order to preserve its credibility. However, it is not in its interest to let trade conflicts escalate and be drawn into trade wars. It is worth noting that through the bilateral...

The WTO provides extensive flexibility for members to engage with each other. Using this, WTO members should identify a road map for the future and a work programme to update and expand the rulebook to address trade-distorting nontariff policies that are not or only partially covered by current...

According to the European Commission (EC), the WTO is struggling to credibly remain the go-to place for trade negotiations.1 Indeed, after the Commission stated its concerns, EU-Ambassador to the WTO Marc Vanheukelen commented that if the organisation does not take measures to move forward, the...

The greatest challenge for the EU in trying to identify an optimal response is understanding the motives behind the US strategy. The rhetoric, and more recently also actions, of the current US administration on trade and the global multilateral system are a real threat to the process of...

The WTO has not been able to recover since the collapse of the Doha Round in July 2008. Several ministerial conferences including the Buenos Aires meeting in December 2017 failed to reach agreement. The US Trump Administration launched a campaign to reform the WTO in 2018 and 2019. This book...