Venezuela Initiates WTO Dispute About US Trade Restriction Practices

"Venezuela claims that certain US laws and regulations relating to goods of Venezuelan origin, the liquidity of Venezuelan public debt, transactions in Venezuelan digital currency, and the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List are inconsistent with the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)," the organization said.

The Venezuelan delegation said in a letter to the WTO that the United States had introduced certain coercive measures restricting trade against Venezuela in the context of attempts to economically isolate the Latin American country.

The letter notes that Caracas is asking for consultations with the US government.

For years, Venezuela has been living in a state of a political and economic crisis, which was worsened by a decline in oil prices and US sanctions.

The United States accuses the government of Venezuela of human rights violations and corruption, and the US Treasury has frozen accounts of dozens of Venezuelan officials. On November 1, US President Donald Trump ordered to impose sanctions designed to block Venezuela’s operations with its gold reserves. On Tuesday, the United States imposed new sanctions on seven individuals and 24 entities over their alleged involvement in a massive currency exchange network scheme in Venezuela that netted some $2.4 billion.