Rumors that the US will stop contributing to the WTO according to Mr. Trump's policy

Reuters on March 28 quoted informed sources as saying that the US has stopped contributing to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in the context of President Donald Trump's administration stepping up efforts to cut spending.

The US is withdrawing from global organisations that it sees as contrary to Mr Trump's "America First" economic policy.

The WTO, a Geneva-based trade watchdog, has a budget of $232.06 million in 2024. According to public WTO documents, the US should contribute about 11% of that based on a fee system proportional to its share of global trade.

At a meeting on the WTO budget on March 4, a US representative said that the country’s spending for the 2024 and 2025 budgets had been suspended, pending a review of its contributions to international organizations. Accordingly, the country will notify the WTO of the results at an unspecified date.

A source said the WTO was working on a “plan B” in case the US funding suspension was prolonged, but did not elaborate.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month, a State Department spokesman said Trump had signed an executive order directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review within 180 days all international organizations to which the United States is a member “to determine whether they are contrary to U.S. interests.”

“Funding for the WTO, along with other international organizations, is under consideration,” the spokesman said.

WTO spokeswoman Ismaila Dieng said US contributions were ongoing but were “affected by the suspension of all payments to international bodies”.

As of the end of December 2024, the US was still $25.7 million behind on its contribution, according to a WTO document dated February 21.

Under WTO rules, any member that fails to pay its contributions after more than a year is subject to “administrative measures,” a series of increasingly stringent sanctions the longer contributions go unpaid.