China-US Trade War and the Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the WTO

Abstract

This paper studies the hegemonism of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and the severe damage to the free trade system exposed by the Sino-US trade war. The agency faces several problems. First, the WTO currently covers a wide range of areas, which makes it challenging to coordinate the interests of member states. Second, the WTO has adopted a decision-making mechanism by consensus. As long as no member objects, corresponding decisions can be adopted. From the historical development process of the decision-making mechanism, it is the first time that the consensus decision-making mechanism considers all members opinions in the decision-making process and tries to make overall considerations. Still, the consensus decision-making mechanism does not stipulate voting or specific decision-making rules. In addition, the paper proposes several potential solutions to modify the dispute settlement mechanism.