Image: UNCTAD.ORG, Some rights reserved.The reality check for Argentina
This week (10-13 December 2017), trade ministers from 164 countries gather together in Buenos Aires for the 11th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC11). President Donald Trump in November issued fresh accusations of unfair treatment toward the US by WTO members, making it virtually impossible for trade ministers to leave the table with any agreement in substantial areas.
To avoid a ‘failure ministerial,” some countries see the solution as pushing governments to open a mandate to start conversations that might lead to a negotiation on binding rules for e-commerce and a declaration of the gathering as the “digital ministerial. Argentina’s MC11 chair, Susana Malcorra, is actively pushing for member states to embrace e-commerce at the WTO, claiming that it is necessary to “bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots”.
