After pulling an all-nighter in Geneva, the 164 members of the World Trade Organization pulled a few paces back from the abyss of trade irrelevance in the conclusion of their long-delayed and much-anticipated 12th ministerial conference. For only the second time since the establishment of the institution in 1995, they were able to conclude a multilateral trade agreement. Indeed, they concluded several. This alone is worthy of applause amid the current concatenation of crises from climate change, COVID, and military conflict. Because of the success in simply concluding these agreements, the WTO remains relevant in international trade and overall international deliberation.
But what has been accomplished in this package of trade agreements? From perusing them, they do appear to be notable accomplishments; yet, in each of them, there is a telling element of procrastination. Some of the hardest issues have not been resolved; instead, they have been postponed for another day, with firm lines of disagreement still maintained by some WTO members that will doubtless frustrate the achievement of the consensus that is needed to conclude new global trade agreements under the terms of the WTO treaty.
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