Fearing Donald Trump victory, developed countries push WTO deals

But India not keen to join efforts on fisheries and e-commerce JSI

Fearing the re-election of Republican challenger Donald Trump in the November US presidential election could paralyse activities of the World Trade Organization (WTO), developed countries are pushing to conclude the e-commerce Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) and fisheries agreements at the upcoming WTO General Council meeting in July. However, India is not keen to join the efforts.

“Members like the US, European Union, United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea are pushing to build consensus towards agreements on e-commerce JSI and fisheries. This is a bit of a jostling situation at present. There is no document submitted yet,” a Geneva-based Indian trade diplomat said requesting anonymity.  “These countries believe if Trump wins, he will weaken the WTO. So they want some sort of outcome before the November US election,” the diplomat added. 
 

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, Trump with 41 per cent votes leads over the US President Joe Biden by 2 percentage points in the race to win the November election, despite his recent criminal conviction.

On Friday, the G7 leaders after their summit in Italy’s Apulia, said in a communique that they remain united in their commitment to the rules-based, free and fair, equitable, and transparent multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core.
 

“We are committed to working towards a prompt conclusion of negotiations of the JSI on e-commerce… We also call for an ambitious and comprehensive agreement on global fisheries subsidies,” they added.
 

During his presidency, Trump has often labelled WTO as broken and unfair, threatening to withdraw the US from the multilateral trading system if it is not reformed significantly. Trump has also blocked appointments to the WTO’s appellate body, thus paralysing the organisation’s dispute settlement mechanism.
 

The diplomat said India’s views have been consistent not to be driven by others’ politics but by its own interests. “Our concerns in fisheries remain where they were. We are not part of the e-commerce JSI; we are only an observer,” the official added.   

An email query sent to the commerce ministry remained unanswered till the time of going to the press.
 

At the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi in February, WTO member nations failed to build consensus on an agreement on subsidies given to fishermen that result in overfishing. India insisted that any comprehensive agreement on fisheries subsidies should be built on the principles of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities.
 

India also believes that developing countries should be allowed to continue subsidies to their poor fishermen to catch fish till exclusive economic zones — up to 200 nautical miles beyond the territorial waters. Besides, it insisted that developedcountries engaged in fishing beyond this zone should stop providing any kind of subsidies for the next 25 years.
 

India has been opposed to plurilateral agreements, such as e-commerce JSI preferring a multilateral approach to e-commerce negotiations under the existing WTO framework. India is concerned about preserving its policy space to regulate the e-commerce sector. It wants to ensure that it retains the flexibility to develop domestic regulations that support local businesses and protect consumer interests. 
 

The co-convenors of the e-commerce JSI — Australia, Japan and Singapore — in a statement in April said that in July, they will be taking the necessary steps to incorporate the outcome into the WTO framework. 

WHY THE HURRY
 

Developed countries believe if Donald Trump becomes US President again, he will weaken the WTO

In his earlier term, Trump labelled WTO as broken and unfair, and blocked appointments to the appellate body

At the G7 meet last week, leaders said they remain united in their commitment on multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core