Sun | Jul 5, 2026

Head of World Trade Organization to step down early

Published:Thursday | May 14, 2020 | 5:24 PM
In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 file photo, Roberto Azevedo, Director General of the World Trade Organization, WTO, attends a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Trade Organization said Thursday that he will leave his post a year early, a “personal decision” that sets the stage for a succession contest at the trade body amid lingering US-China tensions and a coronavirus pandemic that has doused the global economy.

Roberto Azevedo, a 62-year-old Brazilian, said he will step down August 31 as WTO director-general, ending a seven-year tenure marked in recent years by intense pressure from President Donald Trump, who repeatedly accused the Geneva-based trade body of “unfair” treatment of the United States and launched a trade war with China in defiance of the WTO system.

“This is a decision that I do not take lightly,” Azevedo told a special meeting of WTO delegations.

“It is a personal decision - a family decision – and I am convinced that this decision serves the best interests of this organization.”

The 25-year-old trade body has never had to fill a vacancy for the director-general post before that term expired, and under WTO rules, a selection process for a successor is to begin as soon as possible.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.