Last WTO General Council meeting of the year to take place – Photo: World Trade Organization

The General Council—the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) highest-level decision-making body—will meet for the last time this year in Geneva today.

The WTO remains at the center of an ongoing series of trade disputes between Washington and Beijing. On December 9, the WTO ruled that U.S. tariffs on steel imposed by the Trump administration contravened WTO trading rules. In addition, Beijing launched a trade dispute with the WTO just last week, over Washington’s recent semiconductor export controls.

Meanwhile, the EU launched a complaint against China back in January for sanctioning Lithuania over its relations with Taiwan. As consultations with Beijing have failed thus far, the EU Commission recently requested the formation of an adjudicating panel at the WTO to rule on the matter. The panel will likely be formed in early 2023.

Yet, since December 2019 the U.S. continues to block appointments to the WTO Appellate Body, meaning that all cases that are appealed against are thrown into legal limbo and cannot be ruled on further. The WTO continues to discuss reform measures that would satisfy Washington’s demands for reinstating the Appellate Body, such as reducing certain subsidies for developing economies. However, as Washington still refuses to clearly state its demands, a decisive resolution will likely remain elusive for some time.