White House Touts WTO Membership After Trump Raises Notion of Having US Pull Out
The White House on July 25 countered Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw the U.S. from the World Trade Organization if the WTO goes against his plans to raise tariffs on exports from companies that moved their U.S.…
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operations overseas. In response to a question about Trump's discussion of the WTO, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest touted the enforcement mechanisms the WTO provides, highlighting a case the U.S. filed earlier this month against Chinese duties on several raw materials exports (see 1607190039) and added that leaving the WTO could jeopardize global supply chain relationships (here). For example, that could inhibit U.S. companies’ ability to import integral auto parts and support autoworkers, he said. The issue came up on the July 24 episode of Meet the Press (here) when host Chuck Todd suggested to guest Trump that some of his planned tariff increases would be shot down at the WTO. “It doesn't matter,” Trump responded. “Then we're going to renegotiate or we're going to pull out. These trade deals are a disaster, Chuck. World Trade Organization is a disaster.”