WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today joined the Office of the United States Trade Representative in criticizing the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) flawed ruling regarding challenges to the United States’ Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum brought by China and others. For the better part of a century, the U.S. government has had a clear, unequivocal policy that issues of national security cannot be reviewed in WTO dispute settlement, and that international trade lawyers and bureaucrats at the WTO have no authority to second-guess the ability of a WTO Member to respond to a wide-range of threats to its security.
“Congress and the Biden administration must recognize that this flawed WTO decision is just another data point in a long history of deeply flawed actions by international trade lawyers and bureaucrats in Geneva,” said CPA Chairman Zach Mottl. “The WTO should no longer be allowed to overturn our nation’s domestic economic policies. It is not only an affront to our sovereignty, but it also directly threatens our ability to protect U.S. economic and national security, as well as supply chain resiliency. Until the WTO is significantly reformed, it should be ignored.”
Earlier this year, CPA Chief Economist Jeff Ferry testified in front of the U.S. International Trade Commission on how Section 232 steel tariffs have benefited the U.S. steel industry and its workforce. Read his full analysis here.
