2025 Had the Most WTO Complaints Since 2019

Despite the ongoing crisis with the WTO Appellate Body, which has been only partially solved by the creation of the MPIA, 2025 saw a bit of an increase in the filing of requests for consultations under the DSU. Here's a snippet from our WorldTradeLaw.net page where we track this:

For both complaints and matters, we saw the highest numbers since 2019.

(To clarify here, "matters" is a judgment call that we make in classifying disputes, and there's no authoritative list. As stated by the Appellate Body in Guatemala – Cement, "[t]he 'matter referred to the DSB' [pursuant to DSU Article 7] consists of two elements: the specific measures at issue and the legal basis of the complaint (or the claims)." (See para 72.) As an example of this sort of judgment call for disputes in 2025, the assessment of DS641 and DS643 was a particularly close call, and I considered classifying them as a single matter. Ultimately I went with two separate matters, in part because one dealt with steel and aluminum and the other with steel only.)

Are there any broad lessons to draw from the increase in complaints last year? I'm not sure. Six of the complaints were related to the Trump administration's tariff actions. Those actions are likely to continue in some form, but will other governments think it is worth filing additional complaints? If, say, the IEEPA tariffs are struck down, and Section 122 is used as a replacement, will that trigger new WTO complaints?

In addition, the two complaints filed by China against India are interesting. Could that indicate a longer-term trend towards more WTO disputes between these two countries, which had not previously been involved in WTO disputes against each other?

I don't know the answer to either of these questions, and we'll just have to see what 2026 brings.