WTO chief urges states to stop first dominoes of trade war
Roberto Azevedo
Roberto Azevedo  Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)  attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos  Switzerland January 24  2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
“We must make every effort to avoid the fall of the first dominoes. There is still time ”  WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo  told the heads of WTO delegations at a closed-door meeting in Geneva.
“In light of recent announcements on trade policy measures  it is clear that we now see a much higher and real risk of triggering an escalation of trade barriers across the globe ”  Azevedo  said  according to a copy of  his  statement released by the WTO.
 Azevedo  is normally very conservative in remarks about WTO members’ trade policies  but  he  also plays a role as a guardian of the global trading rules  a bulwark against protectionism.
On Friday  he  broke  his  silence on Trump’s tariff plan  expressing concern and saying a trade war would be in nobody’s interest.
In  his  statement at Monday’s meeting   he  did not name any one country but sounded a more urgent warning.
[TGT]Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)  attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos  Switzerland January 24  2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
“We must make every effort to avoid the fall of the first dominoes. There is still time ”  [TGT]told the heads of WTO delegations at a closed-door meeting in Geneva.
“In light of recent announcements on trade policy measures  it is clear that we now see a much higher and real risk of triggering an escalation of trade barriers across the globe ”  [TGT]said  according to a copy of  [TGT]  statement released by the WTO.
 [TGT]is normally very conservative in remarks about WTO members’ trade policies  but  [TGT]  also plays a role as a guardian of the global trading rules  a bulwark against protectionism.
On Friday  [TGT]  broke  [TGT]  silence on Trump’s tariff plan  expressing concern and saying a trade war would be in nobody’s interest.
In  [TGT]  statement at Monday’s meeting   [TGT]  did not name any one country but sounded a more urgent warning.