It has been a rough summer at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for America's trade officials. Recently the arbiter of global trade rules has ruled against them in cases from cotton subsidies to Canadian lumber. Now the Geneva body has also meted out punishment. On August 31st, a WTO arbitration panel ruled that eight of the organisation's members, including the European Union, could impose tariffs of up to $150m a year on American goods, because America had failed to repeal a law that the WTO first deemed illegal in 2002.
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