The United States Relies on the WTO to Settle Trade Disputes More Than Any Other Member

The World Trade Organization (WTO) resolves trade disputes through its dispute settlement process, a system that the United States helped design to ensure all countries follow negotiated trading rules. Since 1995, a total of 575 cases have been brought to the WTO, and the United States has been either a complainant or respondent in 275 of them. The United States is threatening to disable the process unless certain rules are revised, but hampering the system would also limit channels for potentially resolving US-China trade frictions. 

This PIIE Chart was adapted from Jeffrey J. Schott's presentation at the event "China-US Relations and the Global Economic System," held on January 23, 2019.   

Additional credits: Melina Kolb, Digital Communications Manager