Summary: Forty-two World Trade Organization (WTO) completed cases involving the United States led to changes in foreign laws, regulations, and practices that offer commercial benefits to the United States. With the exception of a ruling that U.S. tax provisions violated export subsidy rules, which has potentially significant commercial consequences, none of the changes the United States has made in response to disputes have had major policy or commercial impacts so far. The following major issues have emerged in using the system: (1) Sovereignty. The United States has wondered if U.S. protections would weaken against unfair trade and on health, safety, and the environment. So far, there has been no problem. (2) Compliance. WTO members have generally changed their practices to comply with WTO rules. The compliance rate is 75 percent in U.S. cases. (3) Resolution timetable. Although most U.S. complaints were resolved quickly, most cases going through the panel or appellate processes took longer than called for in WTO timetables. (4) Openness. Although the dispute settlement system is more transparent than when it was established in 1995, the public still has limited information about and input into the organization's proceedings. Summaries of the 42 WTO dispute settlement cases and their commercial significance are included in appendixes.
