Amid 'trade war', retaliatory action and impending slowdown, where is WTO?

WTO's limitations are showing, both in dispute resolution and freeing of trade; the time may have come for a wholesale reform of the body, writes T N Ninan

The headlines shout “Trade war”. Week after week, there are announcements of new trade sanctions and higher tariffs. Retaliatory action follows. Global organisations warn of an economic slowdown, but the friction only escalates. Question: Where is the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the middle of all this? Isn’t it supposed to set the rules for trade and deal with trade disputes?
 
The answer is that it is going to get busy quite soon. China, India and others have filed complaints against the US for imposing high tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, creatively citing national security as the reason.