Forbes: US to appeal WTO cotton ruling 'all the way'

Update: US states WTO “Will be beggin’ for mercy once it steps into this ring.”

Geneva— Robert Zoellick, US Representative to the World Trade Organization, challenged the Deputy Director of the WTO to a fight last night, climbing into a makeshift ring on the Rue de Lausanne, and announcing: "The WTO is in for a beat down... come on [Roderick] Abbot, step in the ring and get a taste of some WTO pain!” Abbot, Deputy Director General of the WTO, responded by throwing a chair at Zoellick, yelling: “You got beat three times this year and you want to get beat again? Bring it on!”

Commentators indicate that the fight stems from a series of steel and wheat tariff arguments which escalated after Abbot tackled Zoellick during a GMO-panel discussion in Brussels. “This dispute over cotton is the last straw,” said Indian trade specialist Suneel Kumar, “The EU Power Bloc feels that the United States has overstepped its bounds. Even the British are siding with us.”

Informed of Britain’s decision on the cotton dispute, Zoellick responded with a disjointed speech: “The Eagle says this: British Bulldog, you think you're just going to have your way with the Eagle; you think the Eagle is just another knucklehead standing on the corner of Know Your Role Boulevard and Jabroni Drive? …[that] you're just going to go on to the WTO title? Well, the Eagle says this: nobody cares about you! …they only care about ONE MAN being the WTO champion!” Zoellick then picked up a microphone stand and tossed it into the crowd before jumping out of the ring and running at Abbot. At least one witness at the scene stated: “The Eagle is looking to lay the smackdown, and it's not even Thursday night!”

- posted by JB @ 7:39 AM