Steel trade war threatens to bring back dark ages in world commerce

Published: Aug. 2, 2018, midnight

b'A brewing trade war over steel is threatening to bring the world back to the economic \\u201cdark ages\\u201d when countries used trade curbs to retaliate politically against rival governments.\\n\\nThe World Trade Organization and its members must find ways to ease tensions between rival countries and look for innovative ways to ensure global trade rules remain relevant and adaptive to the challenges of the present and the future. \\n\\nIt may mean revisiting the WTO and the role it can play in trade governance. \\n\\nOne of the reasons the WTO was formed was to make sure global trade is balanced and fair by isolating international trade from government intervention. \\n\\nRevisiting the WTO has become urgent in the wake of US President Donald Trump\\u2019s decision to slap tariffs on steel imports to protect the United States\\u2019 national interest, which is purportedly endangered by dependence on imported steel. \\n\\nThe US acted before the WTO could consider its complaints of dumping, and the European Union and the People\\u2019s Republic of China are considering retaliatory tariffs. \\n\\nRead the transcript\\nhttps://bit.ly/2v5Z5nZ\\n\\nRead the blog\\nhttps://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2018/04/impact-of-retaliatory-trade-enforcement-actions-on-the-world-trade-organization-and-trade-governance/\\n\\nAbout the author\\nSoo-hyun Lee is a research associate of International Law and Dispute Settlement at the Asian Institute of Policy Studies in Seoul, Republic of Korea.\\n\\nKnow more about ADBI\\u2019s work on trade\\nhttps://bit.ly/2mZ5tsQ\\nhttps://bit.ly/2ytVl1X'