WTO ends meeting in UAE after failing to reach major agreements

Negotiators taking part in a World Trade Organization meeting in the United Arab Emirates ended their summit early Saturday after failing to reach agreements on several major initiatives, the latest sign of turmoil within the global body.

The WTO delayed its closing ceremony in Abu Dhabi by over a day as the 166-nation bloc struggled to reach consensus on fishing, agriculture and other issues, reports Associated Press.

The only agreement of note came on extending a pause on taxes on digital media such as movies and video games. On that issue, the WTO decided to extend the pause until their next biennial meeting.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that the summit took place “against an international backdrop marked by greater uncertainty than at any time I can remember.”

Like in the summit’s opening on Monday, she made no direct mention of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, she had noted previously the ongoing disruptions to shipping caused by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea over the conflict.

“The beauty of the WTO is that each member has an equal voice, but that also comes at a cost,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “Nevertheless, we are a unique organisation, and I think the cost is worth it. Let’s keep going so we can make our voices heard.”

Elections across nearly half the world’s population could bring new challenges for the WTO. None are perhaps more critical for the WTO than the United States presidential election on Nov. 5.

Running again is former President Donald Trump, who threatened to withdraw the US from the WTO and repeatedly levied tariffs — taxes on imported goods — on perceived friends and foes alike. A Trump win could again roil global trade.

But even if President Joe Biden is reelected, the United States has deep reservations over the WTO. The US under the past three administrations has blocked appointments to its appeals court, and it’s no longer operating. Washington says the WTO judges have overstepped their authority too often in ruling on cases.

The US also has criticised China for still describing itself as a developing country, as it did when it joined the WTO in 2001. Washington, Europe and others say that Beijing improperly hampers access to emerging industries and steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. The US also says China floods world markets with cheap steel, aluminium and other products.

According to Reuters, talks ended early on Saturday after five days of negotiations which failed to see breakthroughs on agriculture, fisheries and other key topics. However, a moratorium on imposing tariffs on e-commerce data transmissions was extended by two years, in a relief to businesses.

"On the big ticket items that are essential for the mandate that the WTO wants to sort out, the fisheries, the harmful subsidisation, that just did not happen, because there was not the spirit of give and take," a senior European official said.

On the fifth day of the ministerial meeting, most ministers had already gone home, although India's trade minister Piyush Goyal and European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis remained until the end.

BLAME GAME

Dombrovskis expressed disappointment over the lack of consensus on fisheries, agriculture and broader reforms, and singled out India for blame.

"Agreements were within reach, supported by an overwhelming majority of members, but ultimately blocked by a handful of countries – sometimes just one," he said in a statement.

Goyal, who was a holdout on these topics, was seen smiling and shaking hands outside a meeting room late on Friday as delegates gathered in small groups next to a coffee stand.

India insisted on a long promised permanent fix on public holdings of agriculture stocks which some developed countries opposed.

"We have not lost out on anything. I go back happy and satisfied," Goyal told reporters as talks started to wind down.

Delegates had described the talks as intense and contentious at times, but WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala sought to put a positive spin on a difficult week, telling a closing session: "We've worked hard this week, we have achieved some important things and we have not managed to complete others."

India, along with South Africa, had opposed extending a moratorium on digital trade tariffs - a move that has overwhelming support of most governments and from business - but later relented after an appeal from host United Arab Emirates.

WTO ministerial meetings have failed in the past and this year's negotiations, held in the oil-rich Gulf state the United Arab Emirates, has highlighted fissures between some of the world's top economies.

BRICS DISAGREEMENT

US President Joe Biden's trade chief, Katherine Tai, said in an interview with Reuters late on Thursday that if talks failed, fragmentation among the BRICS group would have contributed.

India and China, core members of the BRICS group of nations, have disagreed on key issues including on investment. India's commerce minister joined the negotiations two days after they started and after his Chinese counterpart had left Abu Dhabi.

Pacific island nations have also complained at the talks about feeling marginalized and overlooked by most major powers, arguing that proposals did not go far enough to protect fish stocks.

But Fiji's delegate earned a standing ovation at the end of the closing ceremony after urging countries to support future negotiations on fisheries.

US support for global trade and multilateral groups like the WTO has been renewed under Biden. But negotiators were mindful that former President Donald Trump, who disrupted the multilateral system, could win a second term in the US presidential election in November.

John Denton, who heads the International Chamber of Commerce, warned that the weak outcomes from the meeting should "serve as a wake-up call on the need for a more nuanced and constructive debate on the role of trade in society – both locally and globally. No country stands to gain from a weakened multilateral trading system."

Earlier in the week, even the formal acceptance of completed negotiations on improving investment was blocked at an organization where all 164 members must agree by consensus.

A consensus on major deals would have elevated the UAE's status as a global interlocutor, as it seeks to place a bigger emphasis on multilateralism and dialogue, a turnaround from the assertive foreign policy it was pursuing a decade ago.