World Trade Organization

WTO Chief ""Very Hopeful"" on Chinese Entry

By Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - World Trade Organization chief Mike Moore said on Thursday he was "very hopeful" China would become a member of the global trading body in the first six months of this year. "We're very hopeful," he told reporters in Beijing who asked whether China would be able to become a member in the first half.

Security Tight for Appearance of WTO Chief Moore

AP Worldstream / By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON BANGKOK, Thailand -- Security was tightened around a major U.N. trade conference Wednesday for an appearance by World Trade Organization chief Mike Moore. Police thoroughly searched the bags of reporters and delegates attending Moore's speech, the highlight of Wednesday's session of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.

Reckonings; An American Pie

The New York Times / By PAUL KRUGMAN Talk about globalization. Michel Camdessus probably knew that his last speech as managing director of the International Monetary Fund might be accompanied by some protests. But he surely did not expect an American activist to follow him to Bangkok and throw a cream pie in his face.

Globalization is in Danger of Collapse, Corporations Told

By PATRICK McDOWELL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BANGKOK, Thailand -- Multinational corporations were urged at a U.N. trade conference yesterday to fill the void left by governments struggling to address globalization issues.

WTO Chief: Real Free Trade Is Best

By NAOMI KOPPEL Associated Press Writer BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Appealing to rich nations to open up their markets, the chief of the World Trade Organization said today that aid handouts cannot help the poorest countries as much as selling goods in real free trade.

WTO Chief Defends Globalisation

BBC News The head of the World Trade Organisation, Mike Moore, has defended the global trading system, saying it should benefit the interests of all countries regardless of their wealth. "We must make this system better and fairer for the poor as well as for the rich," he told the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) in Bangkok on Wednesday.

US Official Leaves Brazil, Steel Feud Unresolved

By Axel Bugge BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil protested U.S. steel import barriers on Tuesday, threatening to take the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley failed to resolve the issue in a one-day trip to the Latin American giant.

EU Considers WTO Action Over U.S. Steel

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Tuesday it was considering launching a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against the United States over a U.S. move to impose punitive tariffs on steel imports. In a statement, the EU's executive Commission voiced serious concerns about the U.S. measures, announced last Friday, calling them unjustified.

UNCTAD Tells NGOs to Fight it out with Governments

By Ranjit Dev Raj BANGKOK, Feb 15 (IPS) - Non-government organisations (NGOs), itching for a showdown at the UNCTAD X conference here, sobered up after they were advised that the real fight was between them and the elected governments in their home countries.

Thai Minister Tells NGOs "Don""t Destroy" WTO

By Robert Evans BANGKOK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi, due to become head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in two years, on Monday urged anti-free trade activists not to destroy his job before he takes it up.