GENEVA—The World Trade Organization’s bid to select a new leader was plunged into uncertainty on Wednesday after the United States rejected the proposed candidate for the position of director-general of the global trade watchdog.
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala came out ahead of South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee as the preferred candidate by member countries, with one to become the organization’s first female leader. The two were selected from five candidates, including Kenya’s Amb. Amina C. Mohamed, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, and Britain’s Dr. Liam Fox, who had advanced to a second round of consultations with WTO members.
My experience of working with various countries and delivering outcomes will be a valuable asset to revitalize the @WTO. And a well-functioning @WTO will provide the meaningful platform to resolve trade tensions. More in @SheryAhnNews @Bloomberg.https://t.co/28rNmLjAH8
— Yoo Myung-hee (@YooMyunghee1) September 25, 2020
Just six days before the U.S. election in which trade is a hot topic, Washington struck another blow at the WTO, which U.S. President Donald Trump has described as “broken” and biased towards China.
The Trump administration has already paralysed the WTO’s role as global arbiter on trade by blocking appointments to its appeals panel. Now it threatens to render it leaderless for weeks or months to come.
The WTO itself has called a meeting for Nov. 9, less than a week after the election, by which time its General Council Chair hopes to have secured full backing for Okonjo-Iweala, a 66-year-old former finance minister and World Bank managing director. She is also a dual U.S.-Nigerian citizen.
The decision needs to be approved by consensus, however, meaning any of the 164 WTO members could block her appointment.
After weeks of consultations, the General Council Chair and two co-facilitators, the “troika” charged with finding a successor to Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, announced at a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday that the former Nigerian finance minister should be the next chief as she had secured cross-regional backing.
“All of the delegations that expressed their views today expressed very strong support for the process, for the troika and for the outcome. Except for one,” WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters after the closed-door meeting. The one was the United States.
After the meeting WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell summed up the announcement by GC Chair Walker: “The candidate that had the best chance of attaining a consensus of the membership is Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria. Consultations on the way fwd will start immediately”, he said
— WTO (@wto) October 28, 2020
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office later released a statement officially backing Yoo, praising her as a successful trade negotiator with the skills needed to lead the trade body at a “very difficult time.”
“It must be led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field,” it said. Critics of Okonjo-Iweala say has lacks technical knowledge of multilateral trade talks.
A spokeswoman for Okonjo-Iweala said she was “immensely humbled” by the backing of the WTO’s selection committee and hoped for a swift conclusion to the process.
Currently chair of the of GAVI vaccine alliance board, Okonjo-Iweala has said the WTO should play a role in helping poorer countries access COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.
Thank you Mr President @MBuhari for these wonderful words of support. I am humbled by your encouragement and that of all Nigerians. We shall push to make this a historic first for Africa and @wto https://t.co/blAUjVwkea
— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) October 13, 2020
Many members, including China and the United States, had declined to name their preference publicly before Wednesday although some African, Caribbean, and other states had voiced support for Okonjo-Iweala during the four-month selection process. The European Union endorsed her on Oct. 26.
The leadership void was created after outgoing WTO chief Azevedo stepped down a year early in August. The WTO is currently being steered by four deputies.
By Emma Farge and Stephanie Nebehay. NTD contributed to this report.