WTO chief says no indication that Trump wants to take U.S. out of WTO

Record ID: 77607

  • Title: WTO chief says no indication that Trump wants to take U.S. out of WTO
  • Date: 24th November 2016
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS ENTRANCE WITH FLAGS UNITED NATIONS SIGN VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL ROBERTO AZEVEDO SAYING: "I haven't had any indication from anybody that that would be the case. I don't have a transcript of what he said exactly but I think, at this point in time, what we have to do is to be ready for a conversation. I think the WTO, I myself as, as director general am convinced that the WTO can be, can continue to be a very important partner of the United States." JOURNALIST LISTENING JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL ROBERTO AZEVEDO SAYING: "We have to, to responsibly wait and see what the effect would be of any decision that is taken in the early days of any administration and see what the overall strategic policy for trade would be and that is what, I think, we need to do." JOURNALIST LISTENING NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL ROBERTO AZEVEDO SAYING: "I owe it to myself, I owe it to the parties involved to give them time, to present a strategy, to present a strategic policy for trade at that point in time. I think we would be in better positioned to evaluate what that means for the world, for that country, for the organization and everything else." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOURNALIST ASKING: "So, you are not worried?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL ROBERTO AZEVEDO SAYING: "Am I not worried? I'm always worried. Always. From the first day that I took office and till the last day of my term, I would be worried." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS LISTENING NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2016 13:26
  • Keywords: Donald Trump trade Roberto Azevedo globalisation
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159T0XTZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Roberto Azevedo said on Thursday (November 24) he had no indication that U.S. President-elect wanted to withdraw the United States from the global trading body.
    Trump suggested during his election campaign that he could pull the United States out of the WTO if its rules stopped him renegotiating U.S. terms of trade to his satisfaction.
    "I haven't had any indication from anybody that that would be the case. I don't have a transcript of what he said exactly but I think, at this point in time, what we have to do is to be ready for a conversation. I think the WTO, I myself as, as director general am convinced that the WTO can be, can continue to be a very important partner of the United States," Azevedo told reporters in Geneva, adding that he had not yet talked to Trump but was ready to do so.
    Trump has described the Geneva-based trading club as a "disaster" and suggested he could pull the United States out of the WTO if the rules proved an obstacle to his plans to protect U.S. manufacturing.
    If the United States did pull out, the WTO would continue doing what it does, he said.
    Nor would free trade necessarily be damaged if the United States withdrew from existing or new regional trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement or the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Azevedo said, since much depended on what might be put in their place, and regional trade arrangements often failed or were renegotiated.
    "We have to, to responsibly wait and see what the effect would be of any decision that is taken in the early days of the any administration and see what the overall strategic policy for trade would be and that is what, I think, we need to do", WTO chief said.
    Trump also promised to punish U.S. firms that move jobs to Mexico and slap a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports to try to claw back a trade deficit with China that the U.S. government put at $367 billion in 2015.
    "Am I not worried? I'm always worried. Always. From the first day that I took office and till the last day of my term, I would be worried", Azevedo said in jest.
    Trade liberalisation has long been a target of anti-globalisation protests and is often blamed in the United States for jobs and investment moving to Mexico or China.
    Azevedo said trade is beneficial overall, and although it can be disruptive, it was wrong to blame it for widespread unemployment, with 8 out of 10 job losses in advanced economies due to domestic-led drives for innovation, automation and productivity.
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