Trump Administration Prepares Bill Allowing US to Circumvent WTO Rules – Reports

• Trump Administration Prepares Bill Allowing US to Circumvent WTO Rules – Reports
  by https://sputniknews.com/
  Late last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected allegations that President Donald Trump wants the US to withdraw from the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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  The US Administration is hammering out a bill that stipulates that Washington may actually abandon fundamental World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, according to the news website Axios, which said it had obtained the draft of the bill.
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  If approved by Congress, the bill, which is titled “the United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act”, would “provide Trump a license to raise US tariffs at will, without congressional consent,” Axios reported, adding that the bill was ordered by Trump himself.
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  Additionally, the Trump Administration would be able to ignore the WTO’s two most basic principles, specifically related to tariff rates, and sit down with any country for talks on a one-on-one basis.
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  “It would be the equivalent of walking away from the WTO and our commitments there without us actually notifying anyone of our withdrawal,” a source familiar with the bill was quoted by Axios as saying.
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  US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has, meanwhile, said that it’s premature to talk about Washington simply withdrawing from the WTO, which she said should be reformed, according to Reuters.
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  The remarks came after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that a recent report that Trump is weighing withdrawal from the WTO is an “exaggeration” and “fake news.”
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