WTO Director-General Says To Meet With Trump Soon For Talks On Reform Of Organization

WTO Director-General Says to Meet With Trump Soon for Talks on Reform of Organization

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo said on Wednesday that he will travel to Washington as soon as possible to discuss with US President Donald Trump changes in WTO structure needed to reform the body

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2020) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo said on Wednesday that he will travel to Washington as soon as possible to discuss with US President Donald Trump changes in WTO structure needed to reform the body.

"I am very happy that in the conversation today with President Trump, he agreed that this is something that needs to happen, the WTO has to change. We are committed to effect those changes, and this is something we are serious about. I am going to be together with President Trump as soon as possible discussing what needs to change, what needs to be effected in the WTO, and we are committed to doing this," Azevedo said at Trump's news conference in Davos closing the latter's visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Trump, in turn, confirmed the meeting, stating that Azevedo would travel to Washington "next week or the week after," adding that WTO had been unfair to Washington for many years and changes would be "very dramatic."

"We are talking about a whole new structure for the deal or we will have to do something, but the World Trade Organization has been very unfair to the United States for many, many years. Roberto and I have tremendous relationship and we are going to do something that, I think, will be very dramatic. He will be coming with a lot of his representatives to Washington sometime, maybe next week or the week after, and we will start working on it," Trump said.

On July 26, Trump directed US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to secure changes at the WTO that would prevent developing countries from taking advantage of regulatory loopholes. A White House memorandum issued that same day pointed out that seven of the 10 wealthiest economies in the world currently claim themselves as developing countries: Brunei, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Macao, Qatar, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

China, the world's second largest economy, has been identified by the United States as the biggest abuser of WTO rules that insists it is a developing country, according to the memorandum. In August, the US president threatened that Washington would pull out of the organization after being mistreated for years.