The escalating trade war and new US tariffs on Chinese goods could end up being the catalyst needed for the WTO to modernise Former senior US trade officials are urging the Trump administration to work with allies to modernise the World Trade Organisation and use the body to resolve its grievances with China, rather than continue its barrage of tariffs that flout WTO rules. The US-China trade war has seen the WTO largely relegated to the sidelines, with critics contending that a number of its mechanisms are outdated and thus inadequate for dealing with practices involving digital trade and state-led economies - issues core to US claims about China.