Global Geopolitical Series: Trump threatens to leave WTO unless reforms implemented

Speaking to Bloomberg reporters yesterday, before leaving for a campaign-style rally in Indiana ratchet up the pressure on the World Trade Organization (WTO), which he accused many a time of bias against the United States. Since been inaugurated as President, Trump has been pushing for reforms within the WTO, which according to the President unfairly labels countries like China as a developing nation.

While President Trump’s push to reform WTO made little progress last year, this year he was able to make the European Union agree in principle to work with the United States in reforming the WTO.

Speaking to Bloomberg, President Trump announced that WTO has been treating the United States ‘very badly’ and he would withdraw from the trade body if they don’t shape up.

While the President’s rhetoric could be to add pressure on WTO, where the U.S. has recently blocked the appointment of judges to the WTO’s appeals body, given the unpredictability of the U.S. President, this is the biggest economic threat so far. A U.S. withdrawal from the WTO potentially would be far more significant for the global economy than even Trump’s growing trade war with China.