YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON – Late last month, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) was held here, bringing in trade ministers and representatives from the organization’s 166 member countries to discuss the current state and future of world trading rules.
After several days of negotiating impasse, MC14 concluded without any major agreement regarding the Agreement on Agriculture, an e-commerce moratorium, the Dispute Settlement Body, or other issues.
Prior to the start of MC14, the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who represented the United States, issued the following statement to his counterparts: “U.S. trade policy measures are a corrective response to a trading system, embodied by the WTO, that has overseen and contributed to severe and sustained imbalances. As ministers, our focus should be on reforms that would make the WTO more responsive to Members and improve our ability to achieve outcomes that optimize our trading relationships. I look forward to having frank conversations with you this week on WTO reform, the future role of the WTO, and what this organization realistically can, and cannot, accomplish.”
Following the conclusion of the MC14, Greer said, “I am grateful to the host nation, Cameroon, for its warm hospitality and strong efforts to make the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization a success, but disappointed at the lack of seriousness of many members. The United States engaged for months ahead of MC14 to encourage WTO Members to embrace a broadly acceptable reform agenda. I have always been skeptical of the value of the WTO, and this week’s conference confirmed that this organization will play only a limited role in future global trade policy efforts.”
The most pressing and actionable item under discussion was an agreement to extend the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions to December 31, 2030, which had support of 166 Members but was unfortunately blocked by Brazil and Turkey. Disagreement amongst members also prevented moving forward with a U.S.-driven reform agenda that all Members endorsed and will be punted to future WTO discussions in Geneva, Switzerland.
Last month, prior to MC14, USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann testified during a WTO-focused hearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade (see
USA Rice Daily, March 18, 2026), saying, “While ministerial-level meetings such as next week’s MC14 in Cameroon always present opportunities, realistic expectations are important. There does not need to be an outcome just for the sake of an outcome, especially if it could harm agriculture. We want agriculture negotiations to succeed by reducing trade distortions and we want WTO reform to move forward. But if the membership is not ready to make substantive progress next week, neither Members nor the Secretariat should try to force it … The WTO is an important asset for U.S. agriculture and rice farmers. It needs to be more effective, not less, and we need stronger compliance to support global trade, not more so called ‘policy space’ to undermine it. It is critical that our competitors abide by the same rules that the U.S. has agreed to follow. If they do not, these rules need to be enforced as early and effectively as possible.”
USA Rice continues to advocate for not only immediate steps to address India and others’ trade distorting policies such as significant domestic tariffs on imported rice, but also for a multi-nation dispute settlement case at the WTO against India’s domestic support policies that encourage an over-production of rice and flood the world’s markets. Bachmann appeared on the most recent episode of the
Field Good Life podcast with host and rice farmer Jennifer James to discuss this topic in more detail.