ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WTO: “The World Trade Organization is scrambling to develop a plan for the biggest reform in its 23-year history after U.S. President Donald Trump brought the world’s top trade court to the brink of collapse by blocking appointments of its judges and threatening to pull the United States out of the organization. Trump’s administration has targeted the WTO, the watchdog of global commerce, as part of his wider campaign against trade arrangements he contends have cost hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs. Proposals to shore up the organization include increasing the number of judges and rewriting trade rules for industrial subsidies, state-owned firms and technology transfer. Those ideas and others will be discussed when Canada hosts a dozen trade ministers in Ottawa on Wednesday [10-24-18] and Thursday [10-25-18]. At stake is the effectiveness – even the survival – of a key stabilizing force in the global economy. Since its founding in 1995, the WTO has stopped governments from arbitrarily raising trade barriers and disrupting the flow of goods.”
–Tom Miles, “Trump threats, demands spark ‘existential crisis’ at WTO,” Reuters, October 24, 2018 2:06 am