The multilateral trading system has underpinned a nearly 50-fold expansion of world merchandise trade volume and one of the most remarkable periods of economic growth and development in modern history, yet global trade policy and the WTO are experiencing the most serious and sustained disruptions since the system was created 80 years ago.

To help understand how we arrived at this moment, the World Trade Report 2026 asks some fundamental questions: What is the value of the multilateral trading system embodied by the WTO and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? What is the economic logic behind its rules? Why is a system that has delivered so much now under strain? And what is at stake as WTO members consider how the institution should adapt? 

A few numbers provide a useful starting point.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization established in 1995 following the ratification of the Uruguay Round Agreements. The WTO succeeded the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was created as part of the U.S.- and Europe-led post-World War II effort to build a stable, open, and rules-based global trading system. GATT/WTO membership expanded over time, and today the WTO's 166 members, including the United States, collectively account for 98% of global trade. The WTO's basic functions include administering its trade agreements; serving as a negotiating forum for trade liberalization and rules; and providing a dispute settlement (DS) process. WTO agreements cover trade in goods, agriculture, and services; tariff and nontariff barriers; and rules on practices relating to trade, such as trade remedies, technical barriers to trade (TBT), intellectual property rights (IPR), and subsidies. The agreements are based on core principles of nondiscrimination—most-favored nation (MFN) and national treatment—transparency, and fair competition. WTO rules also include exceptions, such as allowing preferential treatment for free trade agreement partners and flexibilities for developing countries.

The GATT/WTO system has reduced trade barriers, supported global trade expansion and economic growth, and helped manage trade frictions. At the same time, the WTO faces serious challenges. WTO members have struggled to reach consensus and negotiate a comprehensive round of major trade liberalization and new rules since 1994. Concurrently, some members are increasingly using discriminatory measures and industrial policies that may violate both the letter and spirit of core trade rules. Further, members have struggled to respond to trade-related and supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's war in Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East. Several WTO members and observers are concerned that the WTO is losing relevance due to its inability to adapt to the modern global economy. As a result, WTO members are considering various reforms to the institution in attempts to safeguard and improve it.

The Trump Administration has expressed skepticism over the WTO's value, asserting a lack of reciprocity in WTO members' trade concessions. Some WTO members contend that U.S. tariff actions run counter to WTO rules and undermine the trading system. Congress has recognized the WTO as the "foundation of the global trading system" and has a legislative and oversight role over WTO agreements. Some Members have expressed support for WTO reforms, new rules, and U.S. leadership in the WTO. Others have criticized the WTO and opposed U.S. participation.

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