WTO head unopposed in bid for second term, but could face opposition from Trump

This content was published on November 8, 2024 - 18:53

3 minutes

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) -No other candidate has come forward to challenge World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s bid for a second term at the Geneva-based trade body, two sources said, although Donald Trump’s return to the White House may mean her reappointment is still not guaranteed.

The deadline for candidates to apply for the top job is midnight. A WTO spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister who made history by becoming the body’s first female Director-General and has broad backing among WTO members, announced she was running in September aiming to complete “unfinished business”.

However, one Geneva-based delegate told Reuters: “Her reappointment isn’t a fait accompli, even if there’s no challenger.”

Trump’s former trade representative Robert Lighthizer has called her “China’s ally in Geneva” in an apparent swipe at her support for developing countries – a status Beijing currently enjoys at the WTO.

In 2020, Trump’s administration sought to block her first term. She secured U.S. backing only when President Joe Biden succeeded Trump in the White House.

Those who follow the trade body say it is likely to face a messy, recriminatory period for trade under Trump, who has promised to impose a 10% tariff on all imports and higher rates on countries such as China.

During his first term in 2017-21, Trump paralysed the WTO’s top adjudications court by blocking judge appointments – a status that continues today – and announced tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminium.

“Those who are likely to be part of the incoming administration either see declining value in WTO or are openly hostile to it,” said Alan Yanovich, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. “If they do go ahead and increase tariffs on everyone that will generate a lot of friction and tension.”

Carlos Vejar, a former Mexican trade negotiator and onetime counselor to Mexico’s permanent mission to the WTO, said a new Trump presidency was likely to sidestep the organization as he focuses on relocating production to the U.S. and speeding up countermeasures against imports for sensitive industries.

“I don’t see how the WTO can revive anything with the United States,” he said.

Already, frustrations are running high at the WTO with a major ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi achieving just minimal results, with no breakthroughs on agriculture, fisheries and other key topics. All 166 WTO members must agree new trade rules by consensus – a factor which has scuppered many talks over the body’s 30-year existence and global deals are rare.

Asked whether both she and the WTO could be successful if Trump is elected, she told Reuters at the time: “I don’t focus on that because I have no control.” Months earlier, she said that Trump’s tariff proposals would be a “lose-lose” situation that could upend the trading system.

(Reporting by Emma FargeAdditional reporting by Dave Graham in ZurichEditing by Ros Russell, Peter Graff)