IMF/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WORLD BANK/WTO: “Good intentions and realpolitik rarely mix. That may well be the case with proposals from a trio of international bodies that seek to address some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s gripes with the World Trade Organization while providing ways for other countries to liberalize commerce without his signoff. The report, penned by the WTO, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, calls for changes to rules on foreign direct investment to tackle restrictions such as joint-venture requirements and foreign equity limits. That should appeal to the White House, which has made such hurdles the focal point of its escalating trade dispute with China. The organizations also offer something to partners worried about U.S. trade obstruction. They suggest that groups of like-minded countries be encouraged to free up trade amongst themselves in certain areas rather than waiting until everyone can agree. One model the report cites is the 2015 Information Technology Agreement, in which fewer than a third of WTO members accounting for more than 90 percent of world trade in covered IT products agreed to lower trade barriers. More such deals might speed up the pace of liberalization. But in most sectors, reaching such a critical mass would require China and the U.S. to join the early movers, something that’s difficult to envision in the current environment.”
–Swaha Pattanaik, “Trump-friendly trade reform is a hard ask,” Reuters, October 1, 2018 2:52 am