Middle Powers Should Create Alternative to WTO, Says Research Group

By Koya Ozeki / Japan News Deputy Editor

6:00 JST, April 5, 2026

The international trade order should be fundamentally restructured under the leadership of Japan and other middle powers, a research group at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies said as part of policy recommendations it released on Friday.

The group at the Minato Ward, Tokyo-based institute is comprised of trade experts and was examining how to restore order after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused disruption.

“Opaque subsidies and excess production impede fair competition,” reads the group’s document, referring to China’s financial support for state-owned enterprises. The group argues that the World Trade Organization, which should be addressing such issues, is dysfunctional.

As a first step toward amending the situation, it proposes that middle powers such as Japan and European countries unite to create an alternative framework to the WTO, where they can implement “high-level” rules and “effective dispute settlement mechanisms” and build a track record.

The document suggests that, in the future, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South American countries be encouraged to join the new framework, ultimately aiming for “an upgraded WTO regime” that includes the United States as well as China.

The group, called the Research Group on the Transformation and Future Outlook of the International Economic Order, has been discussing how to deal with the United States’ flood of tariffs since last year.

“Rather than reacting ad hoc” to these measures, the group argues, the free trade system should be rebuilt by “eliminating the structural factors that drive such actions.”

At a symposium at the institute on Friday, Haruhiko Kuroda, a former Bank of Japan governor and the study group’s chair, said that “all problems stem from China’s accession to the WTO in 2001,” reiterating the group’s view that deviations from trade rules by some emerging economies must be addressed as the root cause of Trump’s tariffs.

The group has released its recommendations in both Japanese and English. While primarily aimed at the Japanese government, the group intends to share its message widely abroad and expand cooperation among middle powers.