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Trump’s Search for Absolute Sovereignty Could Destroy the WTO

The Trump administration’s conviction that the World Trade Organization violates American sovereignty endangers the organization and the international trading system.

<p>U.S. President Donald J. Trump stands with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as he delivers remarks on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, DC, October 1, 2018.</p>
U.S. President Donald J. Trump stands with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as he delivers remarks on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, DC, October 1, 2018. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

By experts and staff

Published
  • Stewart M. Patrick
    James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program

In an article for World Politics Review, I examine how the Donald J. Trump administration’s pursuit of absolute sovereignty has contributed to the challenges facing the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the rules-based international trading system.

The World Trade Organization is in crisis. Member states doubt its capacity to spur economic liberalization, counter China’s market-distorting policies or resolve deepening trade disputes. But the biggest threat it faces comes from its erstwhile champion, the United States. President Donald Trump is determined to weaken, even destroy, the organization. The White House speaks the language of reform, yet its ultimate objective is not to fix it but to nix it. The administration’s antipathy is rooted in the conviction that the WTO violates American sovereignty. 

Read the full World Politics Review article here.