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Ian Explains: What is the World Trade Organization?
You probably don’t spend a ton of time thinking about the World Trade Organization (WTO), but it has a huge role in almost every aspect of your daily life—from your morning Brazil-roasted coffee to the Chinese-made smartphone you’re probably using to watch this video.
The WTO is an international organization that deals with the complicated business of moving goods and services across borders. It’s kind of like the referee for global trade, setting the rules and providing a forum for countries to negotiate agreements and resolve disputes. It’s why you can buy avocados from Mexico, clothes from Vietnam, or cars from Korea in the United States without a second thought.
Global trade ballooned to a staggering $32 trillion in 2022 and the WTO oversees 98% of it.
The WTO has been a force for globalization. It’s opened up new markets, lowered tariffs, and lifted millions out of poverty, but it’s also received criticism for favoring wealthy nations and exacerbating global inequality. Not to mention a broken dispute settlement system that’s made resolving international trade conflict virtually impossible.
On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer dives into the history of the WTO, why the US is blocking appointments of WTO judges, and what all of this has to do with Japanese octopus.
Watch the full interview: World trade at risk without globalization, warns WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Watch the upcoming episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on US public television this weekend (check local listing) and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
- World Trade Organization - GZERO Media ›
- Women in power — the World Trade Organization's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala ›
- Hard Numbers: GDP wars, WTO rules in Beijing’s favor, Africans support Chinese engagement, China winning 5G battle ›
- The Graphic Truth: Russia vs. US trade ties in Africa ›
- Graphic Truth: Who Wins From A US-China Trade War? ›
- Crisis at the WTO: Fixing a broken dispute system - GZERO Media ›
Cargo ships dock at their berths to load and unload containers at the terminal in Lianyungang Port in China's Jiangsu province.
Hard Numbers: Chinese trade nosedives, Hungary kills gas subsidy, Iran executes 1st protester, Emiratis travel everywhere, NYT goes on strike
*8.7: China's trade tanked in November to its lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic, with exports falling 8.7% year-on-year. The figures were released on the same day that the EU asked the World Trade Organization to review the legality of Chinese restrictions on Lithuanian imports as payback for the Baltic nation allowing Taiwan to establish a de facto embassy in Vilnius.
1.20: Hungary nixed its 1.20 euro per liter ($3.15 per gallon) cap on gasoline prices — the lowest in the EU — after supply shortages triggered panic buying and low emergency stocks. PM Viktor Orbán, Vladimir Putin's best friend in the bloc, blames EU sanctions against Russian oil — which Hungary is partially exempt from.
1: Iran carried out early on Thursday its first execution of a protester convicted over the ongoing women-led uprising against the regime. The protester was hanged after being found guilty of "enmity against God" for blocking a street and injuring a paramilitary officer in what Norway-based activist Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam called a show trial.
121: Guess who's got the most powerful passport now. Germany? Singapore? Nope — it's the United Arab Emirates, whose citizens can travel visa-free to 121 countries, according to the latest Passport Index. What's more, Emiratis can also enter 59 nations with a visa on arrival, which propelled them to the top spot this year.
1,100: That’s how many New York Times employees plan to strike on Thursday after a year and a half’s worth of negotiations over salaries and benefits failed to net an agreement between the union and the Gray Lady. NYT strikes are rare, and they haven’t stopped the presses since 1978, but with several hundred non-union workers still on duty, the one-day strike is unlikely to halt production.*Correction: Our Signal newsletter incorrectly stated that exports fell in China by 87%. The correct figure is 8.7%.
What We're Watching: China’s Trade War Fightback and the Internet’s Role in Mass Shootings
China's trade war retaliation – China let the value of its currency, the renminbi, fall sharply against the US dollar on Monday to its lowest level in a decade. It also reportedly told state-run companies to stop buying from US farmers. Global stock markets plunged. Both moves were aimed squarely at the US and President Trump, who last week threatened to slap tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese goods if Beijing didn't bow to US trade demands. By allowing the renminbi to slip, Beijing is withdrawing an olive branch, signaling that it is no longer willing to keep its currency artificially strong (and its exports less competitive) while talks with the US proceed. Suspending farm purchases is a direct jab at Trump himself; it increases financial pressure on US farmers, an important political constituency for the president. Taken together, China is saying: We're not going to take the latest US threats lying down. In response, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin branded China a "currency manipulator" – a largely symbolic move that may have been intended to forestall an even more aggressive response by the White House. We're watching to see whether the two sides can avoid further escalation.
The "gamification" of mass violence – On Sunday, an apparent white supremacist murdered 20 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, minutes after posting a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto on the website 8chan. It was the third mass shooting this year advertised beforehand on the website, where some anonymous commentators cheer on gunmen by posting ironic memes and encouraging them to get a "high score." The El Paso shooter said he had been inspired by an Australian man who killed 51 Muslims in New Zealand in January, who broadcasted a live, first-person video of his murder spree on Facebook as though it were a video game. We're watching what others have dubbed the "gamification" of mass violence, because it's increasingly clear that the internet and social media's ability to help people with violent, fringe views find and draw inspiration from one another is fueling these mass shootings, and it's not clear how governments can stop it.
What We're Ignoring:
The Turkmen president's proof of life – A couple of weeks ago, we highlighted dubious reports that Turkmenistan's strongman president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, had died from kidney failure. State television said he was merely on holiday. On Sunday, the national broadcaster offered proof of life: a report showed the Turkmen leader driving a rally car near a giant flaming crater in the middle of the desert, then receiving a standing ovation from spectators dressed in identical track suits after rolling three strikes at a bowling lanes. We are ignoring this story, because it illustrates the basic principle that Turkmenistan is an endless rabbit hole of fun that keeps us from other stories. Unless you live there.
Haasstile Actors
President Donald J. Trump is on the cusp of waging three wars at once: political, economic, and boots-on-the-ground real.
So says Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass in a remarkably chipper interview for today's show.
+Tarriffying Trade Escalation with China + Syria Withdrawal(?) +Israel/Palestine Border Fights