Just as I predicted, the tariff war touched off by United States President Donald Trump is heading to the World Trade Organization.
China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia and Turkey have all requested that the WTO set up a panel of adjudicators to judge the legality of steel and aluminum tariffs which Trump imposed in March.
In return, the U.S. has asked the WTO to adjudicate on tariffs imposed by Canada, China, Mexico and the European Union in response to those U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.
This isn’t going anywhere fast, but it could prove lucrative for consultants and lawyers because these dispute-settling cases tend to drag on for months and months, if not years.
There is another fly in the ointment: the U.S. has failed to appoint people to act as adjudicators for WTO disputes-settling panels.
This will probably end only after Trump is either ousted from the presidency or gets over-ruled by the Senate.
