The U.S. this week refused to lift its effective block of the WTO Appellate Body, saying the country was still not in a position to back a plan to open the selection process to fill vacancies on the Appellate Body.
The proposal not supported by the U.S. has been backed by 121 WTO members. But the U.S. position of blocking new appointments to the Appellate Body goes back to the Trump administration and so far, the Biden administration has not shifted from that position.
There has been speculation that the new U.S. administration might look more favorably at restarting the Appellate Body. But the Biden administration has so far indicated they also want to see reforms to the dispute settlement appeals process.
The WTO Appellate Body has been inactive since December 2019 when the U.S. blocked appointing new members, preventing it from having a quorum to decide on appeals to WTO rulings.