FOREIGN POLICY/TRADE DEALS/WTO: “The Trump administration Wednesday [3-1-17] sent its strongest signal yet that it was prepared to buck the international trade order, including confronting the World Trade Organization, to assertively defend the economic interests and sovereignty of the United States.
In a mandated annual report to Congress outlining the president’s trade agenda, the administration repeated Trump’s warnings that the U.S. would take tough measures to combat dumping and other unfair practices by trading partners and ensure a level playing field.
The document, like Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday [2-28-17], was striking in its lack of specifics on what actions the president intended to take.
At the same time, the administration gave notice to the rest of the world that the U.S. would no longer tolerate distortions in global markets and that it stood ready to make a radical break from the past by emphasizing U.S. laws instead of deferring to global trading rules set by the WTO. The organization regulates trade and settles disputes among the more than 150 member nations, including the U.S.”
– Don Lee, “Trump trade policy report suggests he might resist WTO system,” The Los Angeles Times online, March 1, 2017