Trump’s leadership vital for world trading system – WTO chief

The Head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Wednesday said the United States continued to hold a pivotal role in global commerce. WTO Director-General, Roberto Azevedo, said he would support the administration of Donald Trump in ensuring trade was a positive force for job creation.

“U.S. leadership in the global economy and the multilateral trading system remains vital. It is clear many feel trade is not working for them. We must address this and ensure trade delivers the widest benefit to the most people,’’ Azevedo said, while congratulating Trump on his presidential election victory.

Trump has described the Geneva-based trading club as a “disaster” and suggested he could pull the U.S. out of the WTO if the rules proved an obstacle to his plans to protect U.S. manufacturing. He has promised to punish U.S. firms that move jobs to Mexico and slap a 45 per cent tariff on Chinese imports to try to claw back a trade deficit with China that the U.S. government put at 367 billion dollars in 2015.

Azevedo, whose leadership of the WTO gives him a role as a guardian of trade openness, has declined to criticise Trump’s remarks. According to Azevedo, in July, trade was so obviously positive for every economy that it is like trying to argue with a friend that he needs to breathe. In his reaction to Trump’s election, he said that the WTO was ready to support the administration to ensure trade is a positive element in a new strategy for development and job creation. (Reuters/NAN)