The World Trade Organization has announced it will be setting up disputes-settling panels to deal with the many tariffs imposed first by United States President Donald Trump on steel and aluminum, then the retaliatory tariffs many countries imposed and the back-and-forth tariff increases.
There has been some concern that the U.S. failure to appoint people to sit on WTO panels would cripple the entire process.
The panels, including appeals and the establishment of disciplinary measures winning countries will be allowed to impose, will likely take years.
The only people who are likely to be happy about all of this are the lawyers and consultants who will be garnering many millions in fees.
There are hopes that the U.S. and China can reach a trade agreement that would settle many of the matters at issue with these tariffs, but at the moment both countries are showing no signs of yielding.
