DIFFICULT TALKS AHEAD: The WTO appointed a new trade facilitator to lead talks on reforming the international coalition's ruptured dispute settlement system. The goal? Try to reach a deal by the end of the year. Of course, there’s no guarantee of success. Mauritius’ Ambassador to the WTO, Usha Dwarka-Canabady, steps into the new role after years of experience with the WTO and other international organizations. She is taking over for Marco Molina, Guatemala’s former deputy permanent representative, who was abruptly fired by his government in February, on the eve of the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference. Next steps: Dwarka-Canabady must confront two key issues. First, whether to continue an “interest-based” approach where WTO members make suggestions but do not take formal negotiating positions, which advocates say makes it easier to reach compromises. Second, how to treat the consolidated draft text that Molina unveiled in February. That package resolved many issues except for the biggest one: What to do about the WTO Appellate Body that the United States effectively killed in 2019 by blocking the appointment of new judges. The Trump administration at the time had claimed the body had gone beyond its mandate in imposing new obligations on the U.S., especially in the area of anti-dumping. WTO members cooperated to produce the February draft text based on the outcomes, or “interests,” they’d like to see reflected in the final deal. Dwarka-Canabady is expected to spend the next several weeks consulting with members with the expectation of presenting a work plan at the next WTO General Council meeting, tentatively set for May 22-23. U.S. view: The United States and many other members — including China, Canada and Brazil — called Friday for a continuation of the interest-based approach, a Geneva-based trade official said. In a speech earlier this month, USTR Katherine Tai described why the United States prefers this approach to the more traditional form of negotiation. “If you were to force me to come to the negotiations with a position paper, with a written text-based proposal, I'm going to have to first think about what I think is desirable, what I can live with, and then dial every single aspect of that proposal up to 150 in order to … try to get close to something that I can live with,” Tai said. Another big change: Outgoing WTO Dispute Settlement Body Chair Petter Ølberg also told members Friday that a decision has been made to “formalize” the negotiations. That means they will be brought into the formal WTO structures and records will be kept of the talks, unlike the informal process Molina led for over a year. That step was welcomed by countries like India, Nigeria and South Africa, who complained the informal process lacked transparency and made it hard for many developing countries to stay up-to-date on the talks. A Geneva trade official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he thought it was still possible to pursue an interest-based negotiation within the formal structures of the WTO. But that is one of the issues that Dwarka-Canabady will have to navigate in coming weeks, the official said.
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