London: The European Union is siding with China over plans to unblock the world's trade arbiter, putting it on a fresh collision course with Donald Trump.

Brussels is seeking a way around stagnation at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by teaming up with 17 other countries, including Australia, to form a temporary appeals body which can settle disputes.

US President Donald Trump, left, speaks to Roberto Azevedo, director general of the WTO, in Davos. Credit:Bloomberg

The move is likely to infuriate the US because it interferes with White House efforts to reform global trade in the wake of what Trump regards as unfair support for rivals such as China.

Trump brought the WTO's appellate body to a halt last year, effectively shutting down the supreme court of international trade by blocking all nominees to its seven-member panel of judges. The court requires three judges to open a new case, and has only one remaining. The new mechanism, announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, local time, puts further pressure on the international rules-based order for trade.