Trump, WTO, and International Patent Rights

World Trade Organization Members.svg

With reference to my earlier post on international patent rights as a chip in international trade negotiations, consider recent discussion of Trump stepping back from the World Trade Organization (WTO) – the administrator of TRIPS and GATT.

Will US Trade Wars Create a Rocky Road for International Patent Rights

3 thoughts on “Trump, WTO, and International Patent Rights

  1. 2

    These are extremely hard to do (only 27 of them in over 200 years), but maybe it is time to get this fixed. Currently, the President needs Senate consent to ratify a treaty, but has the power to withdraw unilaterally without Senate consent.

    JOINT RESOLUTION

    Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting withdrawal from treaties.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each house concurring therein), that the following Article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

    ‘Article –

    The President shall have power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to withdraw from any treaty duly ratified and in force with respect to the United States, provided two-thirds of the whole number of Senators concur.

  2. 1

    I like the way that your map still leaves the U.K. in the E.U. Nice bit of trolling, that.

    As for the rest of the post’s substantive content—yes, the administration’s attacks on international trade agreements will have a negative effect on intellectual property protections. Honestly, though, that is sort of the least of my worries.

    We are eroding away so many pillars supporting modern civil society so quickly, it is hard to keep track. Due process, a free press, the emoluments clause—these and so many other bedrocks of our republic are each more important to the well functioning of our society than is intellectual property.That is not to say that IP is not important (it is very important!), but it is less important than these other social goods, each of which is being dissolved away like slaked lime in vinegar.

    1. 1.1

      If I read it right, Donald T asserts that the reason for forming
      the EU soon after the end of hostilities was so as to enable Europe to treat the USA unfairly. Not many people know that.

      But seriously, the UK is still in the EU. Some optimists think that its departure date in March next year will be postponed indefinitely.

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