US draws sharp criticism from WTO members

Washington faces pushback over its lucrative subsidies in crucial sectors

GENEVA — Members of the World Trade Organization criticized the United States' trade policies on Wednesday at the ongoing 15th Trade Policy Review of the United States.

China, the European Union, Canada, Turkiye and many other WTO members strongly urged the US to fulfill its obligations as a WTO member and avoid unilateralism and protectionism.

Despite its rhetoric touting multilateralism, the US has taken measures to counter the fundamental principles of the multilateral trading system, Li Chenggang, China's ambassador to the WTO, said.

While pushing for a level playing field, the US has provided many discriminatory subsidies to its industries to gain predominance, he said.

"The US puts 'America First' by prevailing its domestic laws over international rules and (the) laws of others, disregarding WTO rules and concerns of other members. Clearly, the US is a destroyer to the multilateral trading system," Li said.

The US has put its own interests above global common interests, bullying other members by leveraging its economic and technological power. The US is a "unilateralist and bullying hegemonist", Li said.

It applies different standards for others. While demanding other members to enhance discipline and transparency, Li said the US itself is implementing large-scale exclusive and discriminatory industrial policies.

The Chinese ambassador said the US is hanging onto Cold War mentality, abusing the concept of "national security", and disrupting the global supply chain by decoupling and disconnecting.

Joao Aguiar Machado, the EU's ambassador to the WTO, said there are strong inward-looking tendencies in US trade policy, which favor domestic sectoral interests.

The EU and other WTO members are very concerned about the recent adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act. The EU argued that the act unfairly locks a long-standing friend out of the lucrative US market and excessively lavishes subsidies and brandishes a "made in America" approach that bodes ill for European multinationals.

Discriminatory elements

Machado said many of the generous subsidies in the act tilt the playing field in favor of US producers in crucial technology sectors, including but not limited to the automotive sector.

"Certain elements of the legislation, such as those subsidies dependent on the use of domestic goods and domestic production, are discriminatory and need to reconcile with US' WTO obligations," he warned.

Several EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have warned the subsidies are enticing European companies to relocate to the US.

Canada shares concerns about US trade policies that affect the functioning of the WTO and even the rules-based trading system, said Nadia Theodore, Canadian ambassador to the WTO.

She pointed out that the US legislation and policies, such as "Buy America" and elements of the IRA that favor domestic content and production over those of trading partners, present both competitiveness challenges and challenges to the multilateral trade system.

Clare Kelly, New Zealand's ambassador to the WTO, also criticized the act, arguing that it had a detrimental effect on the US' trading partners.

Dmitry Lyakishev, Russian ambassador to the WTO, said the US has adopted double standards and a policy of selective compliance with WTO rules.

Earlier this week, Washington announced its refusal to implement the WTO's decisions in "steel and aluminum" disputes, which established numerous infringements of fundamental WTO obligations.

US trade policies have continuously spiraled into a vicious cycle of protectionism with blatant disregard for WTO rules, Lyakishev added.

Alparslan Acarsoy, Turkish ambassador to the WTO, said the US imposed additional tariffs on imported aluminum and steel products, which clearly violates WTO rules. He called on the US to cancel the additional tax measures to avoid further damage to the multilateral trading system.

Ankara believes the US has systematically damaged members' confidence in the multilateral trading system, he added.

Agencies, Xinhua