And now for some drama in Geneva, the United States has informed the chairman of the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body that it cannot support the reappointment of South Korean national Seung Wha Chang to the Appellate Body.
The U.S. is concerned that some of the Appellate Body's rulings during Chang's tenure have gone beyond the seven-member panel's legal scope under the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke and USTR General Counsel Tim Reif said in a joint statement to POLITICO on Wednesday.
“The integrity of the WTO depends on the stability of a healthy, well-functioning dispute settlement system that fairly applies the international trade rules as they are in-fact written — and that does not attempt to rewrite the rules or write new rules that are inconsistent with the trade obligations that were carefully negotiated by the United States and other WTO members,” Punke and Reif said.
... Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke and USTR General Counsel Tim Reif made their stance clear in a joint May 12 statement. “The United States is strongly opposed to Appellate Body members deviating from their appropriate role by restricting the rights or expanding the obligations of WTO members under the WTO agreements,” they said.
“The United States will not support any individual with a record of restricting trade agreement rights or expanding trade agreement obligations,” Punke and Reif said.
What impact, if any, will this U.S. action have on future Appellate Body decisions involving the U.S., in particular trade remedy laws and decisions? I can see how people might think the Appellate Body would give in to the U.S. pressure, or perhaps push back against the U.S. pressure. But based on my experience, they will simply keep doing what they have been doing, which is trying their best to come up with the correct interpretation and application of the law in each case (with the knowledge that many people out there will disagree with them in particular cases).
