‘Look like you’re doing something’: Canada hosts trade reform talks without the U.S.

What happens when the central player who helped establish the rules for the game reconsiders — and flips over the table?

Welcome to the World Trade Organization in 2018: an organization approaching a crisis point, now that Donald Trump’s America no longer wants to play a leadership role in its negotiations or respect its court rulings.

The U.S. president isn’t even sure he wants to be a member anymore. As the world’s largest economy withdraws, where does that leave those who still believe in the WTO’s rules-based system?