WTO Director General Warns Of "Trade Fragmentation"

Reuters carrying comments from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization, stating: "We are beginning to see signs of trade fragmentation," and calling the trend "dangerous."

• Okonjo-Iweala: “Governments should get rid of $1.2 trillion in trade-distorting, environmentally unfriendly subsidies.”
• Okonjo-Iweala said, in a interview with Ian Bremmer released today: "We are in an era of geopolitical tensions and many people are pessimistic about the impact of globalisation... We have seen the vulnerabilities of supply chains... that has made people believe that we should 'reshore.'"
• Okonjo-Iweala says, "reglobalising is a tool for building global resilience," arguing against a recent trend towards 'derisking' and reconstructing supply chains in 'friendly' countries.
• Okonjo-Iweala's comments comes as national security concerns increasingly drive policy-makers in Washington and Brussels to challenge the WTO's authority in negotiating function and dispute-settlement system.
• Bloomberg reported last month: "...paralysis of the WTO’s appellate bodyincreased," has "increased uncertainty for businesses operating abroad and raised systemic concerns about whether US obstructionism will reduce the legitimacy of the WTO’s rules based system in favor of a power based trading system."