The effect of US president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to pull the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will depend on what he lays out as the alternative, the head of the WTO said on Thursday.
WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said he is “ready for a conversation” with Trump, but had not had any indication that Trump wants to withdraw the US from the trade body.
Azevedo, who is running for re-election next year in a process in which the US holds important sway, said he would not speculate about future US policies.
“I am convinced that the WTO can continue to be a very important partner of the United States,” Azevedo said.
However, he said the trade body would continue its work even if Trump withdraws the world’s biggest economy.
“The organization will continue doing what the organization does,” he said.
WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell later said that Azevedo had been referring to the US pulling out of agreements like NAFTA or TTP — not the WTO as a whole.
Azevedo acknowledged having heard concerns about some types of trade and suggested that more could be done to help small businesses benefit, but “I haven’t heard, at this point in time, anybody say that trade is bad for the United States.”
In a video on Monday, Trump said he plans to withdraw the US from the TPP, calling it “a potential disaster for our country.”
During the presidential campaign, Trump also called the WTO a disaster.
Overall, the WTO chief said the outlook for world trade was “dismal.”
He said the trade body had revised its forecast for trade growth down to 1.8 percent this year, compared with 2.8 percent previously.
That would be the slowest growth rate since 2009 and is “a reason for concern,” he said.
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