Overview

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental institution founded to regulate and facilitate trade. The mission of the WTO is to use trade to improve quality of life worldwide and promote globalism. The organization works to ensure global trade flows smoothly, predictably, and freely. Additionally, the body aims to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers, provide a forum for trade negotiations, and resolve disputes between member countries. The ultimate goal of the organization is not to enrich any nature or enforce totally equal standards of trade, but to use trade as a means to improve people's standard of living, create better jobs and promote sustainable development. 

Topic 1: Protectionism and Violations of Most-Favored Nation Status

The first topic of the committee will revolve around the central commitment of the WTO that member-states make, specifically the Most-Favored-Nation rule (MFN). MFN mandates that member-states treat all other member states equally in trade matters, never giving a favorable deal to one nation that isn’t offered to all other member-states. The exception to this rule is for deals made with developing nations, as in accordance with the mission of the WTO, offering favorable trade deals to developing nations will help them grow and develop. However, these principles have come under fire recently, as across the world there has been a surge towards extreme protectionism and anti-globalist policies, including tariffs that potentially violate MFN. These so-called reciprocal tariffs, have been denounced by many international trade courts and appear to violate nation status, but as trade wars kick into gear, reshaping the global economy, the question becomes does MFN have a place in the current state of the global economy. Delegates will have to come to consensus on how to enforce MFN and find alternatives to protectionism to countries that violate MFN. 

Topic 2: Ensuring Equitable Trade Conditions for Developing Nations

The second topic for discussion is the potential exploitation of developing member-states. This committee must consider the nature of favorable trade deals for developing nations, as these deals can often lead to dependency and can become extractive and exploitative if left unchecked. Developed nations are often using favorable trade deals with developing nations in order to promote their hegemony and establish spheres of influence in developing markets. Additionally, many of these deals help promote quality of life, but don’t actually develop infrastructure in developing countries, leaving the developing nation stuck producing labor-intensive exports that don’t require as much capital, which typically decrease in price over time, creating a drain on the nation’s economy as the relationship between trade partners becomes exploitative. Delegates must consider the complex economic factors of development and the pressure applied by international economic and political forces when establishing these “favorable” trade arrangements.

The Dais