The head of the world’s trade watchdog has delivered an upbeat take on US President Donald Trump’s unilateral tariffs – one of the biggest shocks to the global trading system since its emergence after the Second World War – casting the disruptions as a chance to cut supply imbalances, open new markets and spur “reglobalisation”.
A little over six months since Trump began slapping new levies on America’s trading partners, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Wednesday that nearly three-quarters of global commerce remained governed by WTO rules, despite escalating tariff battles and repeated predictions of the body’s demise.
