UK's International Trade Secretary to Call for WTO Modernization at G7 Meeting
United Kingdom International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will call for the modernization of the WTO at G7 Trade Ministerial meeting on May 27-28, her office said in a May 26 news release. Truss will urge a “fully-functioning dispute settlement system, to tackle unfair subsidies in industry and agriculture, to modernize the WTO rulebook and advance digital and green trade.” In addition, Truss will share her backing for an agreement on industrial subsidies and the need to support the new Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
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“It really is now or never for the World Trade Organization,” Truss is expected to say at the event. “International trade only works when it is fair and when countries submit themselves to a common set of rules, and for that to happen we need a more modern and dynamic WTO. We want to use our G7 Presidency to address the fundamental issues facing global trade, and support Dr Ngozi in her work to bring the WTO into the twenty-first century. Like-minded democracies need to lead the charge on trade reform, because if we don’t then there is a very real danger that global trade fragments and that fewer countries end up playing by the rules.”