While meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Washington, US President Donald Trump issued fresh warning to the WTO. When asked is he’s preparing to pull out of the WTO, Trump said it has treated the US “very, very badly and I hope they change their ways”. He added that the US has a “a big disadvantage with the WTO. And we’re not planning anything now, but if they don’t treat us properly, we’ll be doing something,” That came after earlier report Axios, based on unnamed source, that Trump has completed to his officials “I don’t know why we’re in it. The WTO is designed by the rest of the world to screw the United States.”
In an CNBC interview, Tony Fratto, deputy press secretary under President George W. Bush, blasted the idea of leaving WTO. He said, “to say that the United States is a loser in a WTO world is just completely inaccurate. We created the WTO as the dominant economy in the world to serve our interests.” While improvements are needed, there are better ways than “to hold it hostage and to threaten to pull out of it.” And He added that pulling out of WTO is a “ridiculous idea”.
On the other hand, former Trump advisor Dan DiMicco also told CNBC that “If the WTO can’t be any more effective than it has been the last 20 years … then the WTO is not helping the world trading system, it’s hurting it, and we should be prepared to walk away.”
