Donald Trump threatens to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation
US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In an interview in the Oval Office with Bloomberg News Trump said: “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO”.
He said establishing the WTO, which was set up in 1995, was the “the single worst trade deal ever made”.
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Trump has previously said the US has been treated “very badly” by the WTO which he said needed to “change their ways”.
He said the US “rarely won a lawsuit except for last year”, but added: “In the last year, we’re starting to win a lot,” he added. “You know why? Because they know if we don’t, I’m out of there.”
The WTO is regarded as a key pillar of the international trading system. It deals with regulation of trade between member countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution system aimed at enforcing adherence to trade agreements.
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The threat comes amid growing trade tensions between the US and a raft of other countries and blocs including China and the EU.
According to Bloomberg Trump is preparing to hit China with a further $200bn (£154bn) of tariffs as the early as next week.
That would mean more than half of the Chinese goods that the US imports would be subject to tariffs.
Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said Trump's actions were causing nervousness among investors.
“Trump’s insistence that he could leave the WTO certainly hasn’t helped market confidence, with the potential imposition of tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese exports also helping to raise market anxiety as we close out the week.”