The US wants to abolish the privileges of China, India and other states in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In a reform proposal that became public yesterday, the US argues that these states should be deprived of the right to „special and differentiated treatment“ in the WTO.
This classification is associated with benefits such as longer deadlines for the implementation of WTO agreements, promotion of trade and higher agricultural subsidies. The US also criticizes that WTO members can declare themselves developing countries that are eligible for the status. It is expected that China and other countries will reject the reforms.
To lift privileges for developing countries
Most of the 164 WTO members claim to be developing countries. In addition to China and India, these include some of the richest countries in the world, such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Qatar and Oman. The US wants countries to not enjoy WTO privileges that the World Bank classifies as high-income countries.
Members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the 20 most influential states (G-20) as well as every country with a share of more than 0.5 percent in world trade are to be excluded from the advantages.
Some states, such as India, insist on the implementation of the WTO reforms adopted in Doha in 2001 before discussing further rule changes. The US rejects this, inter alia, with the hint that China became a member of the WTO in 2001 and then got the status of development. Since then, however, the economy of the country has developed meteoric.
