Donald Trump mocked over FART Act on trade
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Jul 6, 2018
On Friday, Trump said he doesn't plan to withdraw from the WTO "at this point", but wants USA needs to be treated more fairly by the global body. They have been treating us very badly for many, many years and that's why we were at a big disadvantage with the WTO.
Axios reported on Sunday that the Trump administration had drafted a bill that would abandon the US's commitment to the World Trade Organization's rules.
His comments come a day after Axios published a leaked copy of a trade bill that would have the US break with World Trade Organization rules.
Under threats of retiring from the WTO, Trump "wants to work unilaterally on trade, he doesn't like the fact that we are subject to the WTO", said Ben White, an economics specialist for Politico.
President Trump has long made clear his dislike of the World Trade Organization (WTO), saying that the "World Trade Organisation is a disaster" on the campaign trail, and last week, it was reported that Trump wanted to turn his campaign suggestion to exit the WTO into a reality. But many diplomats say quitting the WTO would not be in the US interest, and the WTO has said it has never had any indication of Trump intending to leave.
"The Russian Federation has requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States regarding U.S. duties on certain imported steel and aluminum products. The current system gives the United States no leverage and other countries no incentive".
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, speaking on CNN on Saturday, deflected a question over whether the administration wanted to withdraw from the worldwide treaty, saying, "That's the president's decision".
"Right now, he'd like to see the system get fixed, and that's what he's focused on doing", Ms Sanders said.
While many see the bill's passage through Congress as at best, a long shot, others are interpreting the leak as a trial balloon meant to gauge public opinion and warn USA trading partners and the WTO itself that the U.S.is deadly serious in its plan to come to blows for its right to be an exception to the trade group's rules.
Trump said last week that the government would complete its study soon and suggested the United States would take action, having earlier threatened to impose a 20% tariff on all EU-assembled cars.
In a first stage, U.S. stock markets may suffer from Trump administration's shift but in that whole "trade war" it appears the United States of America remains the biggest and the most powerful contender hence in a second stage a likely consideration by investors of US stocks as a safe haven.
