The United States has stated that South Korea, along with Brazil, Singapore, and Costa Rica, continues to maintain its self-declared developing country status within the World Trade Organization (WTO), despite pledging to forgo special and differential treatment (SDT) in ongoing WTO negotiations.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) released a report addressing WTO reform issues, particularly concerning eligibility for SDT. This report was issued on the eve of a WTO ministerial conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to WTO reform aimed at achieving greater “reciprocity” and “balance” within the international trading system.
“Between March 2019 and March 2020, four WTO members – Brazil, Singapore, Korea, and Costa Rica – announced that they would forgo SDT provisions in current and future WTO negotiations, yet they maintained their self-declared developing country status,” the USTR report highlighted.
Regarding China, the report noted that while China announced in September 2025 that it would not seek SDT in WTO negotiations, “a closer examination raises questions about China’s pledge.”
When a country self-identifies as a developing nation, it becomes eligible to seek SDT, which can include extended timelines for implementing WTO agreements or access to technical assistance programs.
For the past decade, the United States has advocated for the establishment of “objective” criteria to determine SDT eligibility within WTO agreements.
The report further detailed a U.S. proposal that would establish four distinct categories of WTO members who would not be entitled to SDT.
These categories include: (1) a member or applicant of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); (2) a member of the G20; (3) a WTO member designated as a “high-income” country by the World Bank; and (4) a WTO member that accounts for at least 0.5 percent of global merchandise trade.
The United States emphasized the importance of ensuring that SDT benefits are reserved for those WTO members “with the greatest difficulty integrating into the trading system.”
In an official statement, USTR Jamieson Greer underscored the critical need for comprehensive WTO reform.
