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by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Trade Organization chief announced Thursday he will step down on August 31, a year before his term ends, despite the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the global economy. Roberto Azevedo said it had been a “personal decision” reached with his family, and stressed that he was not leaving to pursue “political opportunities”. “This is a decision that I do not take lightly,” Azevedo told […]
by Dave Clark with AFP bureaus World powers scrambled on Thursday to build a global response to the human tragedy and once-in-a-century economic collapse caused by the coronavirus epidemic, as the worldwide death toll topped 90,000. In a locked-down New York, the UN Security Council was to meet on the pandemic for the first time. And, by video conference, EU finance ministers are wrangling over how to bail out their worst hit members Italy […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The COVID-19 pandemic could provoke the deepest recession in living memory, World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo warned Wednesday. “As we face what may well be the deepest economic recession or downturn of our lifetimes, we should aim to make the most of all potential drivers of sustainable growth to reverse this situation,” he told a virtual news conference in Geneva. © Agence France-Presse
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Global trade growth is expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday, warning that the numbers would be “ugly”. “World trade is expected to fall by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world,” the WTO said in a statement. There was a wide range […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The heads of three global agencies warned Wednesday of the risk of a worldwide “food shortage” if authorities fail to manage the ongoing coronavirus crisis properly. Many governments around the world have put their populations on lockdown causing severe slow-downs in international trade and food supply chains. Panic buying by people going into confinement has already demonstrated the fragility of supply chains as supermarket shelves emptied in many countries. “Uncertainty about […]
The US warned Tuesday it was considering a complaint at the World Trade Organization over “discriminatory” new taxes on American digital giants such as a Facebook and Google planned by France and other EU nations. “We think the whole theoretical basis of digital service taxes is ill-conceived and the effect is highly discriminatory against US-based multinationals,” Chip Harter, a Treasury official and US delegate for global tax talks, said in Paris. Speaking ahead of two […]
by Michel Comte Agence France Presse OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — An overhaul of global trade is urgently needed, 13 trade ministers representing all regions of the world said Thursday, following two days of talks in Ottawa aimed at setting objectives to reform the troubled system. The group made a veiled appeal to the United States to stop blocking appointments to WTO dispute resolution panels, warning the system will otherwise collapse soon. Leaders also said […]
by Douglas Gillison / with Ryan MCMORROW in Beijing Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – China on Friday struck back against US President Donald Trump’s trade offensive, intensifying the expanding and unpredictable dispute between the world’s two largest economies. Late Friday, China announced it was expanding its existing complaint against the United States at the World Trade Organization, hours after the countries slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars of cross-border trade. Beijing called the […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Roberto Azevedo warned Monday against a damaging “escalation” of trade tensions between the United States and other major economies, following a divisive G7 summit. Trans-Atlantic and other trade wars would have “a long-term impact on the global economy,” he said at a Berlin meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of the IMF, World Bank and other international institutions. “We must stop this escalation […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The European Union on Monday followed China in complaining to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. “Having a substantial interest as an exporter in this case, the European Union requests consultations with the United States” to agree “safeguards,” the EU said in a statement published on the world trade body’s website. US President Donald Trump sparked fears of a trade war in March when […]
DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over an “illegal siege” imposed by its Gulf neighbors, the commerce ministry said Monday. The gas-rich emirate has been slapped with sanctions and demands after four countries including regional kingpin Saudi Arabia cut ties with it on June 5, accusing Doha of fostering Islamist groups and of links to Riyadh’s arch-rival Iran. Qatar denies the allegations. The Ministry of Economy and […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – by Ben Simon Subsidies given by the US state of Washington to Boeing are illegal, the World Trade Organization said Monday, in a victory for rival aircraft maker Airbus and the European Union. The ruling from a WTO panel is the latest blow in a drawn out trans-Atlantic battle between the aviation industry’s two titans, which has seen both Airbus and Boeing score points along the way. The WTO said that […]
