Contact: media@americanautocouncil.org
10 December 2019 – The world’s motor vehicle manufacturers are highly concerned by the impending blockage of the decision-making process in the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) appellate body structure.
The automotive industry accounts for nearly 10% of world trade and our industry relies on a free and fair trading system to facilitate a strong and efficient automotive manufacturing sector. Should the WTO’s appellate body lose its ability to successfully conclude trade and investment cases, it could critically undermine the entire structure of international trade.
The resulting loss of certainty and predictability for trade in goods and services will be felt acutely in the automotive sector which relies on global supply chains, highly efficient manufacturing processes and access to world markets.
While we recognize that there are substantial long-held concerns regarding the current WTO dispute settlement system, that should not be allowed to undermine the whole rules-based international trading system.
Therefore, the global automotive sector calls on all WTO member countries to swiftly resolve the current impasse and thereby boost the significant contribution that the WTO’s rules-based system makes to free and fair trade, and its contribution to global economic growth.