Impasse at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body: The Slow Demise of Multilateralism?

The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is unquestionably the most elaborate rules-based system to be established in the post-World War II era, internationally. The DSB has helped maintain the smooth running of the multilateral trading body for over two decades through its ‘rule of law’ approach to dispute settlement. The Appellate Body (AB), which the WTO relies on heavily for its full functionality, is as of December 2019 not functional, which effectively deprives all Member States of their legal right to appeal the findings of a Panel’s decision. While various factors are attributable to the current impasse at the WTO vis-à-vis the AB, one underlying factor, which the authors of this article view as fundamental, is the proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs), which developed countries have come to strongly rely upon. This article will seek to demonstrate that there is a direct connection between i) the action of withdrawing support for the AB by the United States (US), and thereby creating a stalemate at the DSB (although being a leading/founding Member
State of the multilateral trading system), and ii) the proliferation of RTAs promoted by developed country Member States (in particular, the US); 3 or, in the alternative, examine the question: is there a direct connection between the RTAs of the US and the AB crisis?