What Happened?
The World Trade Organization (WTO) faces serious challenges, as Congress weighs the value of U.S. membership and leadership. This comes at a time when the Trump administration has expressed skepticism over the WTO's value.
The WTO's 166 members collectively account for 98 percent of global trade. Nearly every product that crosses an international border, from cars to smartphones to soybeans, moves under rules the WTO oversees.
Why Does it Matter to Me?
Lawmakers can consider a joint resolution to withdraw congressional approval of World Trade Organization agreements, and in the 119th Congress, H.J.Res. 93 would do that and end U.S. participation in the organization. Global tariffs imposed by President Trump since 2025 have already raised trade frictions with WTO members, and some countries, including Canada and China, responded with retaliatory tariffs. Higher tariffs on imported goods can translate directly into higher prices at the store.
The WTO also runs a dispute settlement process that American companies and farmers have used to challenge unfair trade practices abroad. That process has been effectively frozen since 2019, when the WTO's Appellate Body, the panel that hears trade appeals, lost its quorum after successive administrations blocked new appointments.
Both Sides, Now
The Trump administration has expressed skepticism over the World Trade Organization's value, asserting a lack of reciprocity in members' trade concessions. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has warned that without "exploring a pathway to incorporate plurilaterals into the WTO architecture," the organization will no longer be "a viable forum for negotiating."
Some WTO members contend that U.S. tariff actions run counter to WTO rules. Canada, China, and the European Union have set up their own interim appeals arrangement to keep the dispute process alive among themselves while the Appellate Body remains dormant.
What Happens Next?
The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing in early 2026 on U.S. interests at the WTO's most recent ministerial conference. That conference, held in March, ended without a final declaration, the first such failure since 1998.
Reviving the Appellate Body would require the U.S. and other members to agree on new appointments, something no administration has done since 2019. The Trump administration circulated reform proposals in 2025 and 2026, but a congressional nonpartisan report notes those efforts have yet to produce a resolution.
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