BRUSSELS, July 7. /TASS/. Removing the United States from the World Trade Organization (WTO) or suspending its membership is the only way to safeguard the global economy, University of British Columbia professor Kristen Hopewell said.

"WTO members must come together in a clear rejection of [US President Donald] Trump’s trade aggression and show that it won’t be tolerated. <…> The only way to preserve the rules-based [economic] system is to expel or suspend the US," she told the European outlet Politico.

The expert noted that while this procedure has never been used in the WTO’s history, the legal mechanism for such action exists. Suspending US membership would require modifying the WTO agreement, which needs a two-thirds majority vote.

Hopewell argues this would create considerable leverage to pressure the White House’s economic policies and force it to abandon tariffs. Following WTO restructuring, the expert believes the US would lose access to global markets, face unlimited tariffs from other nations, and lose protection against trade discrimination. Moreover, intellectual property rights enforcement for US companies would be suspended. "Casting the US out would make clear its status as an international pariah," the expert concluded.

On April 2, Trump announced tariffs on products from 185 countries and territories. Russia is not on the list. Universal tariffs of 10% took effect on April 5, and individual tariffs took effect on April 9. On the same day, the US leader announced that he would suspend additional reciprocal tariffs on a number of states and territories for 90 days. The White House explained that the pause was due to ongoing trade negotiations and that a general 10% tariff would be in effect during this period. On June 27, Trump clarified that the US would notify a number of countries, with which it would not sign separate agreements, about further conditions for bilateral trade within approximately a week and a half. These conditions include the tariff rates on goods they supply to the US market.

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the US plans to notify certain nations of its readiness to reinstate tariffs starting August 1 if significant progress is not made in trade negotiations.