Trade
WTO Chief Criticizes Rich Nations for Protectionism
- Western trade policy is seen as ‘cynical and hypocritical’
- Head of global arbiter Okonjo-Iweala speaks in Berlin
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Berlin on Sept. 4.
Photographer: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The head of the World Trade Organization sharply criticized western governments for embracing protectionist policies and shifting toward a power-based global trading system.
“Recent unilateral protectionist measures by some developed countries coupled with a more general reticence about the multilateral trading system and the WTO is seen as cynical and hypocritical by developing countries,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Monday at a conference in Berlin.