On May 14,
Roberto Azevêdo
announced he would be stepping down from his position as Director-General of the World Trade Organization on August 31, 2020. The window for members to put forward nominations for his replacement opened soon thereafter and closed on July 8. When it did, these eight candidates* began the process of making themselves known to the members:
Dr. Jésus Seade Kuri
of Mexico
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
of Nigeria
Mr. Amdel-Hamid Mamdouh
of Egypt
Mr. Tudor Ulianovschi
of Moldova
Ms. Yoo Myung-hee
of the Republic of Korea
Ms. Amina C. Mohamed
of Kenya
Mr. Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri
of Saudi Arabia, and
Dr. Liam Fox
of the United Kingdom
Last week each candidate had an individual opportunity to make his or her case for selection to the WTO General Council, and then to do the same at a WTO arranged meetings with the press. We expect to review several if not all of those press presentations next week.
Today’s featured quote is from an earlier event, namely
USTR Robert Lighthizer
’s testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on June 17.
Rep. Vern Buchanan
(R-Fl) asked the Trade Representative what qualities he would like to see in the next WTO director-general. In response, Ambassador Lighthizer said, “I think the WTO is a mess,” adding that, in his view, the organization has failed America and failed the international trading system. He then turned to the specifics of what he would like to see in whoever takes the helm after Azevêdo, saying:
I ask myself, what do I look for in a new director-general? I would say, first of all, someone who wants reform, fundamental reform. I think we that have to do things very, very differently. I think a number of countries are not treated fairly but particularly the one that I work for is not treated fairly. So, I think we need fundamental reform. And, secondly, I think we need a director-general that understands the fundamental problem that an extremely large, state-run economy cannot be disciplined into the current WTO rules.
So,
I look for someone who understands the nature of the problem of free economies dealing with China …. And someone who understands that we need across-the-board reform
. Beyond that I have no real preference. …
If I see any whiff of anti-Americanism in any of the person's past actions, I will certainly be willing to veto their appointment.
