The US has suspended payments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for 2024 and 2025. The reason for this was the efforts of the Donald Trump administration to reduce government spending. About this informs Reuters.
Funding was suspended after the US blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s appellate body in 2019, effectively partially paralyzing its trade dispute resolution mechanism. The US accused the appeals body of excessive interference in dispute settlement.
During the WTO budget meeting on March 4, the American delegate stated that contributions to the budgets for 2024 and 2025 are temporarily suspended until the review of contributions to international organizations is completed. It is currently unknown when the US will provide updated information.
The WTO is currently working on an alternative action plan in case funding is not restored soon. The organization’s budget for 2024 is 205 million Swiss francs (about 232 million US dollars), and the United States was expected to contribute about 11% of this amount, according to the size of its share of world trade.
As of the end of December 2024, the US debt to the WTO was 22.7 million Swiss francs ($25.7 million). Under WTO rules, a country that defaults on its contributions for more than a year can be subject to “administrative measures” — sanctions that increase over time. The WTO has confirmed that the US is in “category 1” of debtors. This deprives American representatives of the right to lead WTO bodies and access to official documentation.
It will be recalled that the Trump administration distances itself from international structures that, in its opinion, contradict the economic policy of the United States. In the first week of his presidency, Trump announced the country’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Formally, the US will leave the WHO in 2026, because according to its statute, a year’s notice of withdrawal is required. The United States is the organization’s largest donor, providing 18% of its budget.
