Reuters, quoting 3 commercial sources, said that the United States has stopped its contributions to the World Trade Organization, while the administration of President Donald Trump is intensifying its efforts to reduce government spending.
The United States, under the Trump administration, is working to withdraw from the support of several global institutions, claiming that support contradicts its economic policies based on the principle of “America first”.
The United States plans to withdraw from some of these global organizations such as the World Health Organization, and has reduced its contributions to other institutions in the framework of a comprehensive review of the federal spending.
The Trade Organization was already affected by an American decision in 2019, during the first Trump state, to prevent the appointment of new judges to the highest appeal court, which led to the failure of its main system to settle disputes partially. Washington has accused the Appeals Authority of the Trade Organization of overcoming its powers in commercial conflicts.
The annual budget of the organization, which is based in the Geneva, reached 205 million Swiss francs (232.06 million dollars) in 2024. The United States was scheduled to contribute about 11% of this budget based on a fee system commensurate with its share in global trade, according to general documents of the World Trade Organization.
Two informed sources said that an American delegate had informed the organization’s budget meeting on March 4 that Washington’s payments for the 2024 and 2025 budgets were suspended pending its contributions to international organizations and that the organization will reach the result, without specifying a date.
A third commercial source confirmed the exporters’ account, and said that the Trade Organization is studying an “alternative plan” if the financing stops for a long time, without going into details. The three sources asked Reuters not to publish their names because the budget meeting was private and was not officially announced that US financing was stopped.
The White House has not yet responded to requests for comment.
A US State Department spokesman said that Trump signed an executive order last month that Foreign Minister Marco Rubio directs a review of all international organizations in which the United States has membership within 180 days “to determine whether it contradicts American interests.”
Until the end of December 2024, US arrears reached 22.7 million Swiss francs ($ 25.70 million), according to a document of the World Trade Organization obtained by Reuters, on February 21.
Under the rules of the World Trade Organization, any member who fails to pay his dues is subject to more than a year for “administrative procedures”, a series of punitive steps that increase strictly whenever the period of non -payment of fees is long.
