MOSCOW, April 9. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump’s order imposing sweeping tariffs starting April 2 does not break any American laws, but could be a breach of the most-favored-nation principle set by the World Trade Organization (WTO), Professor at the Kutafin Moscow State Law University Beniamin Shakhnazarov told TASS.
On April 2, Trump announced the imposition of tariffs ranging from 10% to 49% on products from 185 countries and territories. Baseline 10% tariffs came into force on April 5, while individual ones on specific states will take effect on April 9.
"One must understand that the US has a number of international obligations in the area of international trade, including those arising from its WTO membership. There are already concerns that the tariffs imposed breach World Trade Organization rules. This applies specifically to the most-favored-nation (MFN) principle, known very well at the international legal level, which suggests that any advantage provided by a WTO member state to any product originating from or meant for a particular country should be provided to all other WTO member states as well," the lawyer said.
Shakhnazarov also noted that the US president’s order shines a light on what it calls an imbalance of trade conditions under the WTO framework. Despite the fact that the organization’s members are bound to provide the MFN treatment to each other in trade, the US argues that there is a big discrepancy in tariff rates between the US and its key trade partners. "The order states that in the US, one of the world’s lowest simple average MFN rates (3.3%) is in effect, whereas many of the US’ key trade partners (such as Brazil, China, the EU, India, Vietnam) have much higher rates. Consequently, we are facing a controversial and, in fact, highly debatable narrative regarding the actual trade situation," he explained.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the dispute resolution system does not work, as it has been paralyzed since 2019, when the US blocked the process of forming an appeal authority, the expert added. "By permanently blocking the functioning of the dispute resolution system within the WTO, the US gains additional leeway to unilaterally advance its tariff agenda," he concluded.