WTO chief says ‘no panic’ over Trump withdrawal threat The Saigon Times Daily Roberto Azevedo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) attends a meeting with the Association of Correspondents to the United Nations (ACANU) in Geneva, Switzerland, July 25, 2018 – PHOTO: REUTERS GENEVA (REUTERS) – World Trade Organization head Roberto Azevedo said on Friday U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about potentially leaving the WTO were consistent with what the United States has said previously and did not reflect new concerns. Trump said on Thursday that he could pull out of the WTO, potentially undermining one of the foundations of the modern global economy, which the United States was instrumental in creating. “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump said. In a response on Friday, Azevedo, the WTO’s director general, said there was no reason for “panic”. “The U.S. concerns about areas in the WTO that they would like to improve are not new. And I think what he said yesterday is consistent with what they have expressed before.” Trump has previously called the WTO a “disaster” and a “catastrophe”. During his election campaign he told NBC’s Meet the Press programme that if the WTO rules blocked his policies, he would renegotiate U.S. membership or pull out. Trump’s ambassador has said the United States will not shy away from being disruptive to shake up what it sees as a complacent organization, and has precipitated a crisis by blocking appointments of WTO appeals judges, forcing… [Read full story]
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