Insomecircumstances,theWTOallowscountriestoestablishtradebarrierstoforeigngoodsandservices,butwiththeaimofprotectingtheconsumers,theenvi-ronment,orthesafetyoftheirpopulation,forexample.Thus,therearedefensemechanismsagainstpredatorypracticesintheguiseoffreetrade,thatis,againststatepoliciesthatdestroythestructuralconditionsofthemultilateraltradingsystemitself.
TherearenumeroustradedisputeswithintheWTO.ManydecisionstakenbythearbitrationpanelsorbytheWTOAppellateBodyarequestionedbycountriesthatfeeldisadvantaged.Butonethingiscertain:togiveuptheWTOistoacceptthatthemultilateralsystemofrulesoftradebereplaced,aspointedoutbytheDirectorGeneraloftheWTO,RobertoAzevedo,bythelawofthejungle.Inthisscenario,theeconomicallypowerfulpartyorcountrywilldictatetherulesofinternationalcommerceanditwillbeitselfthesolearbitratorofitsowninterestsanddisputes.
Similartomanyotherpost-WorldWarIIinternationalorganizations,theWTOisalsoexperiencingacrisisofeffectivenessandlegitimacy.TheDohaRoundTrade,whichwaslaunchedattheQatarWTOmeetinginNovember2001,hadasagoal,expectedtoreachaconclusionbyJanuary2005,butitfailedmainlybecausetheUnitedStatesandtheEuropeanUnionrefusedtoreduceagriculturalsubsidies.Andrecently,somecountriesareeventhreateningtoquittheWTO.
Fortunately,China,asthesecondlargesteconomyintheworld,isexpressingfundamentalsupporttotheWTOfortheorganizationcontinuestoplayagreaterroleineconomicglobalization.InJune,theChinesegovernmentpublishedtheWhitePaperentitled鈥淐hinaandtheWorldTradeOrganization,鈥漵tatingthatthecountry鈥渇irmlysupportsthemultilateraltradingsystemwiththeWTOatitscore鈥漚ndthatthecountryopposesunilateralismandprotectionism,reaffirmingitsfulfillmentcommitmentsontradeingoods,inservices,onIPRprotection,andontransparency.ThesearecommitmentsthataretotallyinlinewithWTOprinciples.
China鈥檚accessionintotheWTOin2001hadanundeniablypositiveimpactoninternationaltrade.Sincethen,China鈥檚averagecontributionratetoglobaleconomicgrowthhasreachednearly30percent.Importandexportvolumesrepresented,respectively,10.2percentand12.8percentoftheworldtotal.ButtheChinesepresenceintheworldeconomyandtrademayhaveworriedsomecountries.However,thesecountriesneedtopayattentiontothefactthatChinaisenteringaphaseofitseconomicdevelopmentwithenormouspotentialforthegrowthofconsumptionandimportofgoodsandservices,valuedatoverUS$10trillioninthenextfiveyears.Inotherwords,Chinawillopenupevenmoretotheworld.AcleardemonstrationofthistrendistheChinaInternationalImportExpotobeheldinShanghaiinNovember2018.Fromthisperspective,thecurrenttradeconflictsbetweentheU.S.andChinashouldnotonlyfocusonthepresentnumbersofthetradebalance,butaboveall,seethepromisingfuture.AfterChina鈥檚accessiontotheWTOin2001,China鈥檚contributiontoglobaleconomicgrowthhaskeptrising,nowupto30percent.CurrentlyChina鈥檚importandexportsharesoftheworldtotalstandat10.2percentand12.8percentrespectively.WTOisfacingadifficultmoment.Referringtoitasa鈥渢radewar鈥漣stoassumethesecondaryroleoftwoim-portantdimensionstothemultilateraltradingsystem:1)theobservanceofinternationaltradelawand2)thesearchforanegotiatedsolutiontothetradeconflicts.Insteadofhavingasecondaryrole,WTOshouldbegivengreaterimportance.China鈥檚supportfortheorganizationis,inthissense,aboost.Thereisaruleindiplomacythattradedisputesmustbetreatedinawaythatdoesnotcontaminateotherdimensionsofdiplomaticrelationsbetweencountriesinvolvedinatradedispute.Thus,whenthereisacontroversybetweencountries,thefirstgoldenruleistotalk.Andweshouldnotforgetthatinternationaltradeisoneofthepre-conditionstomaintainingpeaceintheworld.Andconstructivedialogueisessentialforthemaintenanceofpeaceandavoidanceofconflictsseepingintootherarenas.
EVANDROMENEZESDECARVALHOisprofessorofinternationallawatFGVandUFF(Brazil),headoftheCenterforBrazil-ChinaStudies,chiefexecutiveeditorofChinaTodayinBrazil,andauthorofthebookSemioticoftheInternationalLaw:TradeandTranslation(Springer).