WTO chief expresses concerns over increasing protectionism

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 19

Expressing concerns over rising protectionism in developed countries, especially in the US which has imposed high import duties on steel and aluminium, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo on Monday called upon the member nations to come together and resolve the issues related to global trade.

He was speaking at an industry interaction on the sidelines of the informal WTO Ministerial which kicked off here on Monday.

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu welcomed the WTO DG, ministers and delegates from around 50 countries for the informal WTO Ministerial Meeting.

While welcoming the participating countries, the Commerce Ministry said in a tweet, “Hoping that this Informal Meeting will provide an opportunity for the ministers to discuss ways to ‘revitalise’ the WTO”.

Prabhu also held a meeting with Azevedo apart from several other representing countries including EU, China and Russia. “We shall work together to strengthen the rule-based multilateral trading system under WTO”, he said in a tweet.

JS Deepak, India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO in his remarks touched upon the backlash against globalisation and free trade by proponents of the same in recent times. Part of it, he believes stems from the fact that trade and globalisation was more disruptive than anticipated and that not enough has been done on inclusion.