The US has suggested that the process to find a new Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) needs to be reopened. The assertion comes as President Donald Trump’s Trade Chief, Robert Lighthizer made known in an interview that the WTO needs “someone with real experience in trade”.
In October, the US publicly opposed the move to appoint former World Bank economist, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the job and a consensus hasn’t still been reached.
The other finalist for one of the top jobs in international trade is South Korea’s Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee, and the pair have been left in a state of uncertainty for almost two months.
Mr Lighthizer in his first international interview said the WTO “is massively in need of reform”, adding that the US needs to “start making headway” on that process.
According to him, the WTO has “failed to function as a negotiating body” and evolved into a body creating a common law of trade, “taking away benefits” that members had negotiated for “and putting restraint on things that had been conceded”.
The US Trade Chief also posited “there’s a consensus developing at the WTO” that, there is a need for an “appellate body reform.”
“We need to start negotiating again, we need to start making headway. So I’m glad you brought up the WTO, it’s been clearly a focus for us and to us its an organisation that started off as a good idea and basically isn’t functioning very well, but I think that can be sorted out also,” he said.
Experts have noted that Robert Lighthizer’s remarks confirm that there is no way the Trump administration will be persuaded to back the Nigerian ex-finance minister in its remaining weeks in office.
If a new Director-General is not appointed before Joe Biden’s inauguration as US President on 20 January, it is likely the process will be delayed for several months as a new US trade team is put in place.
That includes Katherine Tai, who has been picked to be Mr Lighthizer’s successor, but needs Congressional approval.
The President-elect hasn’t given any indication that he prefers either Ms Yoo or Ms Okonjo-Iweala for the WTO’s top job. However when it comes to trade, he recently said, “We need to be aligned with the other democracies…So that we can set the rules of the road instead of having China and others dictate outcomes.”
He also revealed that he doesn’t plan to immediately remove any of the tariffs Mr Trump imposed on China, and which the WTO has judged to be “inconsistent” with international trade rules.
“If the Biden administration can trade off support for Ngozi for political capital on other reforms that certainly seems like a good idea” Simon Lester, a WTO expert at the Cato Institute in Washington told reporters.
He added that this would be the quickest way to get a new WTO leader in place, because “opening up the selection process could be messy and complicated, and would lead to delays”.
The WTO plays a crucial role in brokering trade deals and upholding international trade law, however it has been without a leader since Roberto Azevedo resigned in August, saying someone else would be better placed to deliver the needed reforms.
