Washington, D.C., December 10, 2019 – The U.S. Council for International Business believes the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in bringing together countries to reach much-needed agreements on global trade and enforcing them constitutes the cornerstone of our rules-based trading system. We are concerned that a key part of the WTO, the Appellate Body, will not be able to function after the impasse reached in the WTO today, and we urge all member governments to resolve outstanding issues needed to restore the Appellate Body to full operation. While the WTO will continue its active negotiations work, as well as the work of the first instance of dispute settlement, it is important to the business community that the WTO is equipped with all of the tools it needs to effectively address the trade challenges of the 21st century.
USCIB supports modernizing the WTO, including improvements to the Appellate Body, and negotiating agreements that will address the new trade policy issues confronting our members. We strongly support the current negotiations of a plurilateral agreement on digital trade by the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-Commerce, and the effort to make permanent the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions. USCIB urges the members of the WTO to find approaches to deal with the issues surrounding the WTO Appellate Body as soon as possible, so that the important work of the dispute settlement body can resume.
About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world, generating $5 trillion in annual revenues and employing over 11 million people worldwide. As the U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers, and Business at OECD (known as BIAC), USCIB helps to provide business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.
Contact:
Kira Yevtukhova, USCIB
+1 202.617.3160, kyevtukhova@uscib.org
