- The US President has threatened to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the grounds that it treats US unfairly.
- He has also asserted that India and China have already grown and it was unfair of them to take advantage of the developing countries tag by the World Trade Organisation(WTO).
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations.
- The WTO officially commenced in 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement signed by 124 nations replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).Currently,it has 164 members and 22 observer countries with Afghanistan and Liberia being the latest to join.
- WTO allows member countries to classify themselves as developed or developing.However,other members can challenge the decision of a country to be classified as developing.Only the least-developed countries status is designated by the UN.
- Under the global trade rules,developing countries claim entitlement to (a)longer timeframe for the imposition of safeguards (b)generous transition periods (c)softer tariff cuts (d)procedural advantages for WTO disputes and (e)ability to avail themselves of certain export subsidies.
