The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was in Yaoundé, Cameroon on March 26, 2026 for the WTO ministerial conference. The United States criticized the WTO, while China defended it and called for opposition to unilateralism and protectionism.
The organization’s members convened in Cameroon to address geopolitical tensions, negotiation obstacles, and rising protectionism, exacerbated by the Middle East conflict threatening global trade.
The WTO, facing challenges in reaching agreements due to the consensus rule, needs multidimensional reforms to restore its role in regulating global trade.
Different countries have varying opinions on the reform goals. While the US highlighted the failure of multilateral institutions, China and the EU supported a rules-based multilateral trading system, defending the WTO.
Discussions revolve around revising WTO principles like the Most-Favored-Nation rule and exploring new rules for closer economic cooperation through plurilateral agreements, with India expressing reservations.
While significant agreements are not expected yet, the hope is to establish a reform roadmap at the Yaoundé conference, aiming for concrete outcomes in future ministerial meetings. Members seek changes in decision-making processes, rules for developing countries, fair competition conditions, and reviving the dispute resolution mechanism.
