U.S. economy

WTO Continues To Damage U.S.

by Karl Rusnak on October 16, 2011 - 8:25am

The membership of the United States in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has never, and will never, serve our country well. The undemocratic nature of the WTO ensures this.
Yes, each country in the WTO gets one vote; but how well is the will of the American people reflected in the decisions of the organization? Recent deliberations about U.S. country of origin labeling are just another example of how the WTO overreaches into the affairs of the American people.
U.S. consumers have been benefiting from the hard-won, 2009 instigation of mandatory country of origin labeling requirements (COOL) for food products, including meat and produce. These requirements state that all food products covered under COOL must state the country of origin for all of their contents.
Shouldn’t consumers have a right to know where the food they buy comes from? Our modern food supply system ensures that most consumers would have no idea where their food was coming from if it weren’t for mandatory labels. COOL allows consumers to find out if the food they are buying comes from countries whose production practices would consistently result in food they are comfortable eating.
But other countries have taken issue with U.S. COOL laws. Canada, Mexico and other countries filed a complaint with the WTO, and the initial outlook for the U.S. has not been good. The complaint alleges that COOL laws amount to an illegal barrier to trade. Although a final ruling is not due until September, a WTO dispute panel ruled against the U.S. in May in a preliminary ruling.


If we cannot even determine what labels will be on our own food, how can our membership in this organization allow us to fully maintain our sovereignty? The simple answer is that it cannot. All that our membership in the WTO has done is opened our borders to more dangerous imports, increased our trade deficit and decreased our ability to govern ourselves.
The votes of the American people are already diluted enough in our own government by the influence of multinational corporations. The last thing we need is a supra-national body further watering down the influence of the American people over their own governance.

Posted in: all of foreign