WTO meeting ends in stalemate after US rebukes

The World Trade Organization's biennial meeting ended in stalemate yesterday after U.S. criticism and member country vetoes, raising questions about the body's ability to govern increasingly disputed global trade. Ministers gathered in Buenos Aires were never expected to agree on major trade reforms, but even relatively minor proposals on e-commerce and fishing subsidy curbs ran aground. 

European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told a news conference, the meeting laid bare the deficiencies of the WTO negotiating system, which requires unanimity among all 164 member countries. She said the United States was partly to blame, but other countries also held up progress. WTO



Director-General Roberto Azevedo added that WTO members needed to do some "real soul searching" about the way forward and realize they cannot get everything they want.

Some 70 member countries, including the United States, European Union, Japan and Brazil pledged to forge ahead with an effort to negotiate rules on electronic commerce after a broader deal among the full membership failed. Absent from the group were China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer set an acrimonious tone at the start of the conference with sharp criticisms of the WTO. The 23-year-old trade body requires unanimity among all 164 WTO member countries to reach any agreement.