At an AEI/Brookings event yesterday, WTO DDG Angela Ellard spoke and offered some interesting insights into how people in the U.S. (and elsewhere) misunderstand the WTO:
Neena Shenai:
I wanted to turn to your perspectives on the WTO, given your experience and your personal experience on Capitol Hill. You've been with the WTO now six months, and so I'm just really curious to get your thoughts on two issues. One, what do you think is the greatest misperception in the US/Capitol Hill about the WTO? ...
Angela Ellard:
Well, that's an interesting question. I do think there there are some misperceptions in the US about the WTO. One is that it's a monolithic organization, that it is this body that independently makes decisions that sometimes don't serve US interests. A related perception, I think, is that the US feels that as a big member, it should be able to have a lot of sway. So I think one of the big perceptions, therefore, is that the outcomes, what the WTO does, should be more reflective of the US view because the US is such a big player. Now the US, of course, punches above its weight in the WTO. There's no doubt about that. But at the same time, it's one of 164 members, so in reaching consensus, the US has to get the buy in of its fellow members in order to reach a result.I think that sometimes that's hard. I know when I was on the Hill, I would often hear the view, well, why can't we change this? And it's a very understandable view to have until you see how the WTO works in having everyone come together, everyone is a player. And some have more ability, perhaps, to influence others, but still at the end of the day, we're an organization of the Members and the Members all have that equal standing and and I think that's a misperception sometimes, not just in the US, but everywhere, as well.
