The year 2022 saw the World Trade Organization taking some important initiatives for the least developed countries to boost their participation in trade and the Geneva Package to mitigate Covid-19 created food security and an extension of a moratorium on e-commerce.
WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Sandagdorj Erdenebileg of the UN High Representative for LDCs signed the partnership agreement in Geneva in June on the eve of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12). The ‘Geneva Package’ was also approved at the same conference. WTO members agreed that the practice of waiver on customs duties on electronic transmissions would continue till MC13. The members also agreed to facilitate and support their work under the Work Programme on e-commerce. The program aims to address the challenges and highlight opportunities affecting developing countries and LDCs.
The WTO in January authorized China to impose compensatory tariffs worth $645 million on the United States in lieu of the injury that US decisions caused on Chinese goods. The representative of the US expressed deep regret over the WTO decision terming it as a tool to protect China from its on-market economic policies that hurt fair and competitive trade practices. He also underscored the need to reform the WTO.
The WTO order was passed after China Challenged anti-subsidy tariffs the United States imposed between 2008 and 2012 that were imposed on 22 Chinese products ranging from solar panels to steel wire. After 10 years of proceedings and scrutiny of alleged Chinese subsidies the United States’ action against the Chinese government for the majority was declared unlawful under the WTO regime.
Climate change is a major threat to future growth and prosperity due to potential productivity losses, production shortages, damaged transport infrastructure, and supply chain disruptions, WTO said in its 2022 edition of the World Trade Report.
“The report argues that trade is a force for good for the climate and part of the solution for achieving a low-carbon, resilient and just transition,” WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her foreword to the report released at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
