Revising the WTO Contract: Is the Trump Administration’s Vision Workable?

As part of their broad commentary on U.S. trade policy and the world trading system, the U.S. Trade Representatives during each of Donald Trump’s terms in office have offered a public critique of specific aspects of the WTO as a “contract”. In doing so, they offer a vision of the system that is very different from the current understanding. Along with these personal views put forward by individual Trump administration officials, as part of WTO reform discussions, the U.S. government is making formal proposals that would reshape the system in practical terms. Is the vision presented by the U.S. trade leadership, in both their personal and official capacities, workable? This article considers the implications of these high-level informal critiques and formal proposals for the future of the trading system.