Work together for rule-based trade

For almost 80 years, the multi-lateral rule-book has been the basis for international trade relations. Under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO), world trade has expanded at an unprecedented rate, contributing to growth and prosperity around the world.

- COMMENTARY Anders Ahnlid

Our countries, Thailand and Sweden, share a long tradition of support for the rule-based trading system.

Sweden joined the GATT in 1950, and Thailand in 1982. As such, both our countries were founding members of the WTO in 1995. In 2025, we therefore celebrate our 30th anniversary of WTO membership together. In cooperation with other like-minded countries, we have worked to improve and protect the system ever since. It is therefore fitting that we are now a long way toward finalising a free trade agreement between us, in Sweden's case via the European Union.

Recently, the US stopped using WTO rules as a point of reference in its trade policy. As a consequence, the rule-based trade that has served us well for many years is under grave threat. Even if the US does not formally leave the WTO, much damage has been done. If the world’s leading economic power pursues a trade policy where it sees itself as unbound by international commitments, there is a great risk that more countries will take steps away from a rule-based trading system.

Hopefully, this critical situation will serve to clarify minds and priorities when we enter the final phase of EU-Thailand FTA negotiations. We should never let a good crisis go to waste.