The head of the World Trade Organization will leave his post in August, a year earlier than he was expected to.
Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo, who has directed the global agency since 2013, cited family reasons for his decision and said he doesn’t want the WTO to be distracted by a leadership race next year as it prepares to undergo major overhauls, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
WTO members are eligible to select a new director-general in the coming months, and a decision could arise as early as this month. If there is no new chief by Sept. 1, one of four deputy director-generals, which include senior officials from the United States and China, would take over as interim chief.
Azevedo is the first Latin American chief to lead the organization. He said his early departure would allow the process of choosing his successor now so that the organization can focus on other priorities in the coming year.
“We know that the WTO cannot stand frozen while the world around it changes profoundly,” Azevedo told the Wall Street Journal. “Ensuring that the WTO continues to be able to respond to members’ needs and priorities is an imperative, not an option.”
His departure comes amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has plummeted much of the global economy. The WTO has also entered into a stalemate through escalating tariff wars and disagreement among its rules involving the U.S., China, and the European Union. The organization has come under criticism by President Trump and his allies, who claim the organization has been unfair to the U.S. and has benefited China.
“The World Trade Organization is horrible,” Trump told reporters on Thursday before departing for Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley recently called for the U.S. to withdraw from the organization, claiming it’s “enabled the rise of China.” In response to the news of Azevedo’s early leave, Hawley tweeted on Thursday, “Just turn the lights off as you go.”
Azevedo has defended the organization against its critics.
“The WTO may not be perfect, but it is indispensable all the same,” he said. “It is what keeps us from a world where the law of the jungle prevails, at least as far as trade is concerned.”
