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US wants World Trade Organisation dispute system fixed by 2024

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The United States is entering a third phase of talks with countries to reform the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) hobbled trade dispute arbitration system and aims for it to be “fully functioning” by the end of 2024, the US ambassador to the WTO told Reuters on Thursday. The WTO’s appeals bench, which rules on top disputes, has been mothballed for over two years due to Trump-era blockages of adjudicator appointments. Under President Joe Biden, Washington has resisted calls by WTO members to approve appointments and has instead been leading negotiations on how to reboot the WTO’s dispute system. “Our goal is a fully functioning (dispute system) by 2024,” Deputy United States Trade Representative Maria Pagan told Reuters in her first public comments on the closed-door talks, saying Washington was “very committed” to reforms. Asked whether it was possible to revive the Appellate Body, Pagan did not rule it out. “I think it needs a lot of revamping,” she said. The United States has criticized the WTO’s alleged overreach and lengthy processes and it has strongly contested some of its recent rulings against the United States. The US-led consultations with more than 70 countries over the past year have involved 12 reform themes expected to result in concrete proposals, Pagan said. She declined to give details but suggested they would include alternatives to formal disputes such as mediation. The appeals bench freeze means 24 WTO cases are stuck in legal purgatory because the losing party has appealed into a void. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has previously said the global trade body can reach deals on difficult topics like reform by its next major meeting (MC13) in early 2024, although Pagan said that might be too soon. “We don’t view this as work that has to be done by MC13. But that does not mean that we’re not committed to working as quickly as we can on this because we are,” she said. Some delegates have expressed disappointment with the US engagement with the 28-year-old WTO, which it helped establish. They cite Washington’s no-show at a key WTO meeting at Davos last week as an example. However, Pagan has refuted this, saying there was a scheduling clash. WTO members agreed on the body’s first global trade rules reform in years last June which cut fish subsidies, but progress has stalled amid a dispute over who will chair talks. Pagan described the process as “frustrating” but said she was hopeful a breakthrough had been found, without elaborating.

The United States is entering a third phase of talks with countries to reform the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) hobbled trade dispute arbitration system and aims for it to be “fully functioning” by the end of 2024, the US ambassador to the WTO told Reuters on Thursday.

The WTO’s appeals bench, which rules on top disputes, has been mothballed for over two years due to Trump-era blockages of adjudicator appointments.

Under President Joe Biden, Washington has resisted calls by WTO members to approve appointments and has instead been leading negotiations on how to reboot the WTO’s dispute system. “Our goal is a fully functioning (dispute system) by 2024,” Deputy United States Trade Representative Maria Pagan told Reuters in her first public comments on the closed-door talks, saying Washington was “very committed” to reforms. Asked whether it was possible to revive the Appellate Body, Pagan did not rule it out.

“I think it needs a lot of revamping,” she said. The United States has criticized the WTO’s alleged overreach and lengthy processes and it has strongly contested some of its recent rulings against the United States.

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The US-led consultations with more than 70 countries over the past year have involved 12 reform themes expected to result in concrete proposals, Pagan said.

She declined to give details but suggested they would include alternatives to formal disputes such as mediation. The appeals bench freeze means 24 WTO cases are stuck in legal purgatory because the losing party has appealed into a void.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has previously said the global trade body can reach deals on difficult topics like reform by its next major meeting (MC13) in early 2024, although Pagan said that might be too soon.

“We don’t view this as work that has to be done by MC13. But that does not mean that we’re not committed to working as quickly as we can on this because we are,” she said.

Some delegates have expressed disappointment with the US engagement with the 28-year-old WTO, which it helped establish. They cite Washington’s no-show at a key WTO meeting at Davos last week as an example. However, Pagan has refuted this, saying there was a scheduling clash.

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WTO members agreed on the body’s first global trade rules reform in years last June which cut fish subsidies, but progress has stalled amid a dispute over who will chair talks. Pagan described the process as “frustrating” but said she was hopeful a breakthrough had been found, without elaborating. 

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China wins WTO dispute with Australia over steel products

China wins WTO dispute with Australia over steel products

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China wins WTO dispute with Australia over steel products

China has won a nearly three-year-long dispute with Australia at the World Trade Organization over tariffs on steel products that began during a low point of bilateral relations between the countries, and Australia’s trade minister said Wednesday his government accepted the ruling.

Beijing took its complaint to the WTO in June 2021 over Australia’s extra duties on railway wheels, wind towers and stainless steel sinks imported from China. Trade in these products was worth 62 million Australian dollars ($40.4 million) in 2022.

On Tuesday, the WTO panel adjudicating the case in Geneva, Switzerland, found that Australia’s investigating authority, the Anti-Dumping Commission, had acted inconsistently with some articles of the anti-dumping agreement.

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell said in a statement Wednesday that Canberra accepted the WTO’s ruling and supported a rules-based trading system.

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“Australia will engage with China and take steps to implement the panel’s findings,” Farrell said.

“Australia remains committed to a fully functioning WTO dispute settlement system so that the rights and obligations of all WTO members can be enforced,” he added.

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Trade tariffs have been a hot topic between Beijing and Canberra in recent years after China imposed a raft of sanctions on Australian goods in 2020 during the most recent nadir in the bilateral relationship. It is estimated that the tariffs cost the Australian economy 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion).

Most of the tariffs have since been lifted as the relationship thawed, but tariffs on wine, rock lobster and some abattoirs still remain.

In April, Australia suspended a complaint to the WTO in a bid to reopen the Chinese market to Australian barley, which had been one of the products targeted by the tariffs and was widely seen as the new Australian government’s attempts to repair relations with Beijing.

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The Australian government has also halted another WTO dispute against China over sanctions on Australian wine worth about 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($720 million) in exchange for a review by China to be completed by the end of March. 

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GameStop shares fall as video game retailer faces competition, weak spending

GameStop shares fall as video game retailer faces competition, weak spending

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GameStop shares fall as video game retailer faces competition, weak spending

GameStop’s (GME.N), opens new tab shares fell more than 14% on Wednesday, as the brick-and-mortar video game retailer reported a decline in fourth-quarter revenue on the back of a spending slowdown and rising competition from e-commerce firms.

The Grapevine, Texas-based company also said late on Tuesday that it had cut an unspecified number of jobs, joining Japan’s Sony (6758.T), opens new tab and Electronic Arts (EA.O), opens new tab in a bid to reduce costs as economic uncertainty hits discretionary spending.

GameStop is set to lose more than $700 million in its market capitalization if the losses hold.

As of Tuesday, GameStop’s stock had fallen nearly 12% this year, as the retail and ecommerce environment remains intensely competitive for the company, which was once a mainstay of American malls.

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The company has a total of 4,169 stores as of Feb. 3, compared with 4,413 in January last year.

GameStop was hailed as the pioneer of Wall Street’s so-called meme stocks. The stock’s price rose as much as 100 times over several months in 2021, largely on the sentiment of individual buyers connected through the Reddit (RDDT.N), opens new tab community forum WallStreetBets.

“No sooner has the meme stock craze been resurrected by Donald Trump’s media company enjoying a big share price boost, it’s somewhat ironic that the grandfather of meme has fallen flat on its face,” AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab rose more than 12% on Wednesday, a day after its stellar Nasdaq debut.

GameStop’s first adjusted per share profit in four quarters also failed to lift investors’ spirits. The company’s earnings were 22 cents per share on an adjusted basis for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, after breaking-even in the third quarter.

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Exclusive: First Quantum execs discuss investment, disputed copper with Chinese officials

Exclusive: First Quantum execs discuss investment, disputed copper with Chinese officials

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Carnival Corp (CCL.N), opens new tab, (CCL.L), opens new tab raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, betting on a record year of bookings for its cruises as the industry has its “revenge travel” moment.

Cruise companies are experiencing all-time high booking rates as travelers switch to cheaper sea-borne experiences over expensive land-based alternatives such as booking hotels or flights, allowing operators to hike prices.

However, U.S.-listed shares of the company, which owns the Cunard and Holland America Line cruise lines, reversed course from premarket and were last down about 3%. They have risen about 94% in the last 12 months.

“This has been a fantastic start to the year,” CEO Josh Weinstein said in a statement.

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“We delivered another strong quarter that outperformed guidance on every measure, while concluding a monumental wave season that achieved all-time high booking volumes at considerably higher prices.”

The company’s first-quarter revenue rose to $5.41 billion, roughly in line with analysts’ expectations.

Bookings for the rest of 2024 remain the best year on record with total customer deposits reaching a first-quarter all-time high of $7 billion, the company said.

Carnival has estimated an impact of up to $10 million on both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income for the full year following the Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Tuesday.

The company said in January that strong demand trends during the year were expected to offset the impact it was seeing due to the re-routing of ships in the Red Sea region.

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The cruise operator now expects adjusted profit per share of 98 cents in 2024, compared with its prior forecast of 93 cents. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $1 per share, according to LSEG data.

Adjusted cruise costs, excluding fuel in constant currency, were up 7.3% in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. 

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