YAOUNDE, March 26 - Trade ministers opened a four-day series of talks in Yaounde on Thursday to press for changes to the World Trade Organization, even as deep divisions among members cloud the prospect of a breakthrough.
Officials attending the meetings said that, absent agreement at the gathering, countries might increasingly write trade rules outside the WTO. The discussions come against a backdrop of heightened trade volatility following a year of tariff disruptions tied to actions by the United States, and growing alarm about the trade consequences of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
John Denton, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce, warned of extensive business fallout. "From a business perspective this could yet become the worst industrial crisis in living memory," he said, citing the risk of energy price spikes driven by the conflict and the attendant threat to food security in Africa from fertilizer supply disruptions.
Delegates enter Yaounde after years of stalled multilateral negotiations and a six-year paralysis of the WTO's dispute settlement system. Yet despite the urgency, ministers arrived without a unified reform agenda. Internal WTO documents reviewed by officials show the United States backing the idea of reform in principle but resisting endorsement of a detailed work plan; by contrast, the European Union, Britain, and China are supporting a clearly defined roadmap.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned that the negotiations would be challenging. Diplomats and trade officials cautioned that a fruitless meeting could accelerate the shift by some members toward alternative fora for shaping trade rules.
"If we don't achieve anything concrete, the WTO will lose its attractiveness and relevancy," Swiss Ambassador Erwin Bollinger said ahead of the talks. UK trade minister Chris Bryant added a similar warning about fragmentation: "My anxiety is if we ministers don't get this week right, you might see a disorderly collapse of the WTO and some people writing a new rule book," he said.
Tension is expected around a specific issue: the moratorium on customs duties for digital downloads. The United States and India are poised for a confrontation over whether to extend the moratorium and on what terms. According to a draft statement circulated in advance, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is set to tell members the U.S. is "not interested" in a temporary extension and is pushing for a permanent one. India is likely to continue opposing a permanent deal, an official said, while a subset of members favors a two-year extension.
South Korea's trade minister Yeo Han-Koo warned that failing to extend the moratorium would be a "big blow" to both the WTO and the wider global economy.
Separately, Taiwan will not be represented at the talks after the host country, Cameroon, described it as a province of China. The absence of Taipei underscores the political sensitivities surrounding membership and participation at the meetings.
What delegates face in Yaounde
- Negotiations over a concrete reform work plan remain deadlocked, with the U.S. reluctant to sign onto detailed steps while the EU, Britain, and China support one.
- The future of the moratorium on customs duties for digital downloads is a likely flashpoint, with the U.S. calling for permanence and India opposing that position.
- Broader economic anxieties - including the possible supply shocks to energy and fertilizers stemming from regional conflict - are shaping the urgency of the talks.