Fostering compliance through harsh retaliation

So now it seems that the US is punishing one of its closest Arab allies, Egypt, because they dared to contradict the US position on genetically modified organisms. The US has filed a complaint in World Trade Organisation against the EU, which has banned the use of genetically modified foods. When Egypt didn’t join the party, the US harshly retaliated, and withdrew from free trade negotiations with Egypt.

The US must have been cross with Egypt - by saying that Egypt supported the US position, they could claim that the EU ban was 'hurting developing countries'. Without support from Egypt, this point now looks a little watery. 'Hurting US biotechnology companies'doesn't bring a tear to many eyes.

No one is surprised with how dirty politics can really get, although apparently Egypt ministers are rather stunned by this retaliation. In the words of EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, this kind of power play reflects certain "methods allowed in the WTO rules — such as retaliation — as a tool to foster compliance." It's precisely because the WTO can be used to force compliance, so big US corporations can get to previously protected markets, that many people are afraid of its powers.