WTO on trade tensions

Statement by Director-General Azevêdo in relation to the Council on Trade in Goods
Director-General Roberto Azevêdo today (23 March) issued the following statement in regards to the meeting of the WTO’s Council on Trade in Goods.

"At today's meeting of the Council on Trade in Goods, WTO members reviewed and discussed many of the most pressing trade issues of the moment, including a number of the specific tensions that have arisen between different members in recent weeks. It is positive to see members continuing to use the WTO as a place to discuss these issues.

"I encourage members to continue working through the WTO's many forums and mechanisms to deal with their concerns and explore potential solutions. Actions taken outside these collective processes greatly increase the risk of escalation in a confrontation that will have no winners, and which could quickly lead to a less stable trading system. Disrupting trade flows will jeopardise the global economy at a time when economic recovery, though fragile, has been increasingly evident around the world. I again call for restraint and urgent dialogue as the best path forward to resolve these problems."

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