The US Decides to Blackmail the World

The US authorities have decided to blackmail the world by withdrawing from one of the agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Bloomberg reports. This pertains to the rules governing government procurement.

The agreement, which has faced criticism in Washington, obliges participating countries to open their public procurement markets to foreign companies and to make them more competitive. The Trump administration believes this contradicts national interests.

It is noted that the total volume of purchases regulated by the contentious agreement amounts to $1.7 trillion. The US exit could lead to uncertainty in the American public procurement market (which is estimated at $837 billion) and may intimidate foreign companies.

In August 2019, Trump had already stated that the US might exit the WTO if necessary. However, since then, no concrete steps have been taken in that direction.