Sawt Falasteen - US 'in arrears' at the WTO

"The chair of the committee on budget, finance, and administration informed members during the General Council meeting in February that the United States is currently in 'Category 1' arrears," Ismaila Dieng told AFP.

The United States did not pay its contribution for 2024, he said. Washington has also not yet paid its dues for 2025, though contributions from the WTO's 166 members often do not come in until mid-year.

Last year, the United States was due to pay around 23.2 million Swiss francs ($26.3 million) -- amounting to roughly 11 percent of the WTO's budget.

Category 1 arrears -- the least serious of three levels -- consist of those that have not paid their contributions for at least one year, but for less than two years.

The nine members currently in Category 1 arrears are Angola, Chile, Eswatini, Grenada, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Uganda and the United States.

WTO members in this category are not permitted to chair the Geneva-based global trade body's various bodies.

They are also not permitted to receive WTO documentation and are subject to reports at meetings of the organisation's General Council, its highest-level decision-making body in Geneva.

"Generally, arrears can impact the operational capacity of the WTO secretariat," said Dieng.

"But the secretariat continues to manage its resources prudently and has plans in place to enable it to operate within the financial limitations imposed by any arrears."

- Tariffs and Trump's order -

On February 4, Trump signed an executive order sparking a 180-day review all international organisations which the US is involved in or funds, to determine whether they are contrary to US interests or could be reformed.

A source close to the discussions at the WTO told AFP: "At the March 4 meeting, the US delegate indicated that the suspension of US contributions to the budgets of international organisations also affected the WTO."

The findings of the reviews will be presented to Trump along with recommendations as to whether Washington should withdraw from such bodies.

On March 7, back from meeting US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said "the indications I got is that they remain part of WTO".

Since returning to office, Trump has launched a widening trade war against the United States' main partners by threatening to ratch up tariffs.

Canada has launched two separate complaints at the WTO over Trump's tariff manoeuvres.

However, continuing a practice initiated under president Barack Obama, Washington keeps paralysing the WTO's final mechanism for resolving trade disputes by blocking the appointment of judges to its Appellate Body.

The United States put the block on for the 85th time on Monday.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST