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Deprived of its appeal tribunal, the WTO can no longer play its role of trade policeman. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

The World Trade Organization (WTO) buries this Wednesday, December 11, its appeal tribunal, Washington's pet peeve.

With our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche

The appeal court of the World Trade Organization is now out of service, paralyzed by the American refusal to appoint new judges. The WTO can no longer play its role of policeman of international trade. The Trump administration is planting an extra nail in the coffin of the organization, yet as much criticized as solicited by Washington.

Since its creation in 1995, nearly 600 trade disputes have been brought before the World Trade Organization, including 124 by the United States, by far the largest complainant. The WTO has often been right in Washington . But the Trump administration believes that the organization has taken too much power, that it takes too much time to make its decisions and that it has not been able to contain China's appetites.

With a single judge, the appeal court can no longer rule on any case. WTO boss Roberto Azevedo, however, refuses to talk about the Far West commercial: " The current situation does not mean that one can no longer settle disputes in the WTO, that all that is over, no, this is not necessarily true. It just means that in the future it will be different. Everything will depend on what the WTO members will decide now. "

The following, precisely, nobody really knows it. Roberto Azevedo said he would personally try to unblock the situation. Even if he did not say how. The WTO can always register complaints. Except that the files will be blocked in case of call. The European Union has proposed the creation of an interim court to settle commercial disputes. A proposal rejected by Washington.