Illustration: Tang Tengfei/GT

Under the dual pressures of a pandemic and trade protectionism, the global trading system has been badly disrupted, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) going through an unprecedented challenge of its disputes settlement mechanism (DSM) appellate body suspension due to the US' obstruction.

Recently the US delegation to the WTO signaled there will be no change on the mechanism for the time being, further prolonging the predicament. However, though the rebooting agenda of the panel remains to be seen, the multilateral free trade system represents an irreversible historical trend and will facilitate the recovery of global economy during post-pandemic era.

Citing the US President Joe Biden's inauguration days ago and the transition to his administration, the US delegation said that it's "not in a position" to back a proposal on WTO's appellate panel members, according to the Bloomberg.

The move is in line with expectation as Biden has just taken office amid an unprecedented domestic crisis. As the country has been badly battered by the novel coronavirus, the new president has been repeatedly stressing his priorities as being addressing domestic issues, particularly the COVID-19 crisis and an economic reboot.

As of Tuesday, the US has recorded over 25.2 million confirmed infections, and lost more than 421,000 lives. Per IMF estimation in last October, the world's largest economy might have contracted by 4.3 percent in 2020.

There are topics remaining to be addressed by the Biden government, and trade policy is one of them, although the global market has been eagerly longing for the resuming function of WTO DSM, a victim of the former US president Donald Trump's all-out efforts to smash multilateralism. 

WTO's final ruling body has been paralyzed as the US constantly obstructed new judge nominations. The seven-seat appellate body has become a "vacuum" panel now.

Since the DSM appellate body of WTO suspended its function, it has weakened the overall effectiveness of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and undermined the rules-based international trading system. Similar to traffic rules without enforcement mechanism, it would become a meaningless framework.

It is more likely that the Biden administration will take some time in assessing the situation before taking steps on trade policy decision-making. As for the US' stance on WTO reform, adjustments are expected though there may not be drastic changes.

With Biden in office, WTO members could expect a more predictable US presence unlike the Trump administration which simple ignored rules. 

China has been committed to upholding and practicing multilateralism. "The international community cannot afford to lose justice," said China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying in December 2019 when the WTO Appellate Body stopped functioning. Hua stressed that China will continue to work with like-minded members to address the challenge facing the Appellate Body.

No country should be allowed to do whatever they want, and it is the economic and market principles that play the dominant role, rather than those who are ideology-skewed or who prefer laws of the jungle. Multilateralism and the rule of law remain the direction of historical progress.

The article was compiled based on an interview with He Weiwen, an executive council member of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn