Unsettled Settlement: Paralysis of the World Trade Organization Appellate Body (WTOAB)

This paper looks into the recent cases of American blockings on the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body and the ensuing response of an interim option introduced under the leadership of Canada and the European Union. Across both the Obama and Trump Administrations, the U.S. has continued to block re-appointments and novel appointments of panelists serving on the appeals court leading to overall paralysis. How was the Appellate Body allowed to fall into this level of dysfunction and what are the prospects of the alternative provided by other member states? This paper seeks to show that the paralysis was knowingly inflicted by the U.S., but also that the response undertaken by other members has been unexpected in their willingness to contest American efforts of derailment at the WTO. Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangemen