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  2. Scholl Chair in International Business
  3. The World Trade Organization: The Appellate Body Crisis
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The World Trade Organization: The Appellate Body Crisis

For nearly 25 years, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has played a crucial role in mediating international trade disputes. The WTO’s dispute settlement system has largely prevented damaging cycles of tariffs and retaliation outside internationally agreed upon rules and arbitration. Now, the WTO's dispute settlement function is at risk of collapsing. For roughly two years, the United States has blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO's Appellate Body due to complaints over judicial activism at the WTO and concerns over U.S. sovereignty. Efforts to reform the dispute settlement system in response to U.S. demands and pave the way for new appointments to the Appellate Body have been unsuccessful. On December 10, the terms of two of the three remaining Appellate Body members expired and the Appellate Body now lacks a quorum necessary to hear appeals, grinding the dispute settlement system to a halt and throwing into doubt the WTO's role in enforcing multilateral trade rules.
 
To navigate the crisis, the Scholl Chair has compiled and categorized its own analyses of the Appellate Body impasse.

Diagnosing the Problems

WTO Reform: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?
Ongoing Goings On: A News Update on WTO
The WTO’s First Ruling on National Security: What Does It Mean for the United States?
Whither, or Wither, WTO?

Solutions

Article 25: An Effective Way to Avert the WTO Crisis? 
Salvaging the World Trade Organization
Fixing the WTO 

report

The WTO at a Crossroad

Visualizations and Interactives

The WTO At a Crossroad: Three Scenarios
WTO Reform Tracker

Events

The World Trading System is Not Dying
The WTO: Looking Forward

Scholl Chair in International Business

  • Analysis
  • William Alan Reinsch’s Commentary
  • The WTO Leadership Race
  • The World Trade Organization: The Appellate Body Crisis
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Find Additional Content
Media Queries

Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Caleb Diamond
Media Relations Manager and Editorial Associate
Tel: 202.775.3173

Experts

William Alan Reinsch
Senior Adviser and Scholl Chair in International Business

Featured

Report
The WTO at a Crossroad
By William Alan Reinsch
September 18, 2019
Interactive
WTO Reform Tracker
September 17, 2019
In The Trade Guys
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Media Queries

Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Caleb Diamond
Media Relations Manager and Editorial Associate
Tel: 202.775.3173

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