WTO discordance, U.S. dissonance and increasing talk of bilaterals

Last week began with President Trump threatening to order an unspecified “something” if the World Trade Organization “doesn’t change their ways.” And it ended with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, seizing on an adverse finding in the supercalendered paper dispute brought by Canada, lambasting the WTO for a panel decision that he said provided the “latest example of judicial activism at the WTO, seeking to undermine those laws and make it harder for members to address unfair trade.” Even before...