María Pagán

The Biden administration’s World Trade Organization ambassador attended her first Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) meeting Wednesday and continued to block the appointment of new appeals panel judges while calling for sweeping changes to Geneva’s legal system. Deputy U. S. Trade Representative María Pagán made her debut in Geneva with a frank assessment of what she views as the WTO’s failures in settling disputes, telling the DSB that WTO members need a legal system that meets their needs. “WTO dispute settlement currently fails in this regard — for many years it has not met the needs of members, including the United States. …The Biden administration believes reforming the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system is a priority and wants a “true reform discussion” that focuses on the issues of concern with the system rather than what the U.S. alone wants,” Pagán said. (to access the full story a Law 360 subscription is required)