World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo said Tuesday (04.02.20202) he would not meet with President Donald Trump during his current visit to Washington, but believed U.S. officials shared a sense of urgency about reforming the global trade body.
Azevedo said he was in constant contact with the U.S. Trade Representative's office and could return to Washington if a meeting with Trump or other officials was scheduled.
«There is also a sense of urgency here"Azevedo said at a conference organized by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA), highlighting the the need for structural changes in the WTO to reflect global economic developments, including the rise of China and the emergence of the digital economy.
Azevedo said Trump had made clear during a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month that he wanted to see the WTO change, and said he had been invited to Washington to discuss how far-reaching such reform would go.
But Azevedo said he would not meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer or Trump during this visit to attend the conference.
«I came here for this event. It doesn't mean I can't come back. I need someone to tell me, 'This is the time.'", he said, adding that American officials were politically committed, but it was necessary to "transform those ideas into concrete actions«.
The European Union, China and 15 other members of the World Trade Organization agreed last month to create a temporary mechanism to resolve trade disputes after U.S. action left the WTO unable to act as an arbiter of global trade.
Washington froze the Appellate Body, which acts as a supreme court for international trade, by blocking appointments for more than two years. Two of the body's three members completed their terms in December, leaving them unable to issue rulings.
Azevedo described his meeting with Trump in Davos as “surfacel," as was generally the case when he met with state leaders, but said the US president was clearly convinced of the need to reform the WTO.
«The perception is that there is a need to change what we have and that we have to do it.", He said.
Azevedo said WTO members were working on a range of issues, including resolving concerns over fisheries subsidies and e-commerce. Some of those agreements could be ready in time for a ministerial conference in Kazakhstan this summer, he said.
Source: Reuters
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