WTO: Survival or Revival?

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The world trading system is under enormous pressure right now and the World Trade Organisation is not up to the challenge. The rule-based system that was established after the second world war – with GATT - and later WTO - has served us well but has not been able to adapt to current demands. Challenges such as the rise of protectionism, green and digital trade, as well as the emergence of new industrial policies and subsidies, have not found their way into an updated WTO rule book. Moreover, the normativity of the WTO rules has been eroding as a consequence of that certain member states ignore central parts of their commitments. This in turn has contributed to a process of increased regionalisation in tune with a general trend of weaker multilateral institutions.

At the end of March, ministers from the 166 member countries of the WTO met for a ministerial conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to discuss possible way forward. The outcome of the meeting was far from a success, and it became clear that a number of economically large member states do not have the political will to sustain the rule-based multilateral system of the WTO. Simultaneously, many smaller and medium-sized economies depend on this system for their prosperity.  

Thus, the questions regarding the future of the present ruled-based trading system are becoming increasingly topical and urgent to address. What credible ways forward can be found to make a system that has served the world well survive and, in a longer time perspective, be revived at a multilateral level?  

Programme

Welcome adress with Måns Söderbom, Dean, School of Business Economics and Law

Reflections after MC 14 in Yaoundé with Robert Staiger

Key note: Rules over force: the imperative of a revitalized WTO with Jennifer Hillman

Open panel discussion with André Sapir, Petros C. Mavroidis and Anders Ahnlid

Moderator Cecilia Malmström