U.S President Donald Trump says he will pull out of the World Trade Organisation unless it "shapes up"
ADVERTISEMENTPresident Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation as he claimed it treats the U.S. unfairly.
The WTO was established to provide rules for global trade and help resolve disputes between nations but in an interview with Bloomberg News Trump said: "If they don't shape up, I would withdraw."
He has been a critic of the organisation for a long time. In fact, trade has been very much at the top of his agenda since he came to office and this is not the first time he has claimed the U.S. gets a bad deal. But a former chief of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, told euronews that pulling out might not be in the best interests of the U.S.
"We have all to prepare to the "WTO minus US: system." It needs a bit of imagination. But it is probably doable and then the US would not benefit from the benefits of belonging to the WTO, their exports will be subject to whatever trade measures others would like to impose on them, including on intellectual property preservation. This is not the scenario others are looking for, but they have to be ready."
The European Union is attempting to convince the U.S. that it's better to reform the WTO rather than abandon it.
