If the WTO Is Broken, Why Not Fix It?

The World Trade Organization’s new ruling that U.S. tariffs on imports from China broke international trade rules will have no little or no practical effect, not least because Donald Trump’s administration has gutted the system for enforcing those rules. Nonetheless, the finding is worth pausing to consider. It marks another step in the president’s effort to dismantle the rule-based global trading order — an assault that has already harmed the U.S. and its partners, and that will only do more damage as time goes on.

China had sought the ruling after the U.S. imposed so-called Section 301 tariffs in 2018 in response to Beijing’s dubious trade policies, including forced transfer of foreign technology and theft of intellectual property. The WTO says that the U.S. failed to adequately explain or justify the measures, as the rules demand. But there’ll be no consequences. The U.S. will either ignore the finding altogether, or lodge an appeal with a WTO panel that it has paralyzed by blocking the appointment of new appellate members. And China has already raised its own tariffs in retaliation — also in violation of the rules.