Adjunct Professor Matt Gold was quoted in a CNBC article about U.S. trade relations under the Trump administration.
Rarely has the WTO faced so many disputes about a handful of actions, experts say. But President Donald Trump’s pursuit of protectionist trade policies has stoked nationalism around the globe. His disregard for international rules of the road has forced other countries to sidestep the system as well. And the WTO is struggling to keep up with the changing tides.
“The Trump administration has significantly increased their workload,” said Matt Gold, a law professor at Fordham University and a top trade official under President Barack Obama. “The United States has brought the whole system to a halt.”
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Fixing the WTO would require a long-term commitment, and America’s trading partners remain uncertain about the administration’s end-game, Gold said. Heightened political tensions and the upcoming election are clouding the outlook as well. Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the trade body, both on the campaign trail and in the White House.
“It’s much more about theater for the U.S. midterms right now than it is about solving problems,” Gold said.