Tag: WTO

WTO talks end with no major win, throwing trade body into ‘crisis’

By Hashem Osseiran and Agnes Pedrero ABU DHABI, March 1, 2024 (AFP) – A high-level WTO conference ended Saturday with a temporary extension of an e-commerce moratorium but no deals on agriculture and fisheries, throwing into doubt the effectiveness of the multilateral trade body. The outcomes of the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi highlighted the sharp divisions between the body´s 164 members amid geopolitical tensions and economic headwinds that are threatening […]

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WTO head ‘less optimistic’ for world trade due to Red Sea strikes

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – The World Trade Organization’s chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday said she was “less optimistic” about world trade in 2024, pointing to tensions in the Red Sea. The head of the international trade body said weaker global economic growth, “worsening geopolitical tensions, the new disruptions we see in the Red Sea, on the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal” meant “we are less optimistic”. She was speaking to journalists at […]

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WTO: War in Ukraine, inflation, high interest rates slash 2023 global trade growth forecast by more than half

By Agnès PEDRERO GENEVA, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Global trade growth will be sharply lower than forecast this year as stubborn inflation, high interest rates and the war in Ukraine pressure economies around the globe, the World Trade Organization said Thursday. Strains in China’s vast property market also prompted the WTO to cut its trade growth forecast to just 0.8 percent this year, less than half the increase it had previously projected. “The projected […]

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China appeals WTO ruling over its retaliatory tariffs on US imports

GENEVA, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – China has appealed a World Trade Organization ruling faulting it over tariffs it has imposed on billions worth of US imports in retaliation for Washington’s steel and aluminium duties. The chair of WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body informed diplomats Tuesday that China had notified its decision to appeal a ruling last month by a panel of experts finding its extra tariffs violated international trade rules, a Geneva-based trade official said. […]

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China calls for WTO review of US-led chip export restrictions

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing has asked the United States, Japan and the Netherlands to confirm the existence of an alleged agreement between the three countries to curb semiconductor exports to China, state media reported Wednesday. Beijing’s representatives issued the request during a regular meeting this week at the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to a state television broadcast. Representatives demanded that the three countries “notify the WTO of the agreement and subsequent measures, and […]

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WTO strikes landmark deals package after marathon talks

  by Robin MILLARD  GENEVA, June 17, 2022 (AFP)  The World Trade Organization concluded a landmark bundle of deals Friday covering fishing subsidies, food insecurity and Covid-19 vaccines following hectic round-the-clock talks. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said trade ministers had struck an “unprecedented” number of agreements that would affect the lives of people everywhere. The talks in Geneva began Sunday and had been due to wrap up on Wednesday. But instead the WTO’s 164 members […]

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Deal or no deal as WTO talks grind into second sleepless night

  by Robin Millard  Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Marathon talks at the World Trade Organization aimed at stitching together a tit-for-tat deal went round the clock into Friday with a long-sought agreement on fishing subsidies still hanging in the balance. The talks were due to wrap up on Wednesday but went straight through into Friday, the sixth day, as the WTO tries to prove it still has a role in tackling big global […]

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International agencies call for urgent aid to address food insecurity

Major international organizations issued an appeal Wednesday for urgent measures to deal with rising food insecurity in poor countries, including financing to support farmers and increase food supplies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Western sanctions on Moscow, have sent energy and food prices soaring in recent weeks, while rising natural gas prices also have impacted fertilizer production, which in turn hurts farmers. “It is critical to quickly provide support for food insecure countries in a coordinated manner,” […]

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War in Ukraine could halve 2022 global trade growth: WTO

  by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Russia’s war in Ukraine could almost halve world trade growth this year and drag down global GDP growth too, the World Trade Organization projected Monday. The WTO said that the Russian invasion had not only created a humanitarian crisis of “immense proportions” but had also dealt a “severe blow” to the global economy. It also said that in the longer term, the conflict could […]

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US, Canada restrict travel from southern Africa as new variant sparks concern

by Daniel Woolls with AFP bureaus The United States, Brazil, Canada, and Saudi Arabia became the latest countries Friday to restrict travel from southern Africa, where a new Covid strain labelled a “variant of concern” has been discovered in a potentially heavy blow to the world’s efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organization said the new variant is more infectious than the dominant, highly transmissible Delta strain, and renamed this B.1.1.529 strain […]

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WTO’s big conference postponed due to new Covid variant

by Agnès PEDRERO Next week’s World Trade Organization ministerial conference, the global trade body’s biggest gathering in four years, was postponed at the last minute Friday due to the new Omicron Covid-19 variant. The WTO hoped the four-day gathering in Geneva would breathe new life into the crippled organisation, which has been stuck for years trying to make progress on resolving issues like fishery subsidies. New director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was also hoping, against the odds, […]

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Yoo Myung-hee: Glass-ceiling breaker aiming for WTO chief

by Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, one of the two women vying to be the next head of the World Trade Organization, is known at home as a glass-ceiling breaker in still male-dominated society. An English literature graduate of the elite Seoul National University, she set aside her dreams of a literary career to become a trade ministry civil servant in 1995. “There were no veteran trade […]

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