Okonjo-Iweala given 2nd term as WTO chief as Trump’s return looms over trade body’s future
GENEVA — Member countries of the World Trade Organization agreed Friday to give Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a second four-year term.
The move by the Geneva-based trade body comes as its future is clouded by the return to power of in the United States of President-elect Donald Trump, which has the world’s single biggest economy.
During his first term, the Trump administration largely bypassed WTO rules by imposing tariffs on steel and other goods from countries including China and even U.S. allies.
Trump has announced plans to impose tariffs on goods from other countries after he takes office in January.
Okonjo-Iweala, who has both Nigerian and American citizenship, took office in 2021 as the first woman and first African to hold the job of WTO chief.
Her second term will officially begin next September.