well, my guest today is the boss of the wto, roberto azevedo.can he do to avert a global trade war? roberto azevedo, welcome to hardtalk. the wto has been in existence for 23 years. would you agree this is the toughest moment the wto has faced? if not the toughest, certainly one of the toughest, yeah, for sure. ah, given the nature of the challenges before the system, where it comes from, and so on and so forth, so yeah, it is really tough right now. you face the reality of an american president who says the wto has been a disaster, a catastrophe for the united states of america. that is a fundamental problem, isn't it? i think the us clearly has difficulties with the system. they don't think that the system is perfect. i don't think any member of the wto believes that the system is perfect. everybody would like to see improvements. so that's part of life. we have been trying to accommodate these desires to improve the system and renegotiate things, update the systems, the disciplines, the world has been changing dramatically fast over the past

roberto azevedo, we are to do there.talk. it was a pleasure. hello. temperatures on the way down in the lead—up to the easter weekend. low pressure close by. so it's looking unsettled. some rain around in the day ahead from this first area of low pressure, has been some uncertainty about how far north the wet weather is going to get. still a little bit about that. south wales, southern england most likely to see some wet weather, but it may push further north to parts of wales and the midlands into east anglia as the day goes on, getting some showers, a chance of a bit of sleet and wet snow out of this, especially on the hills into the west of these areas as we go through the afternoon. much of northern england, northern ireland and scotland will have variable cloud, sunny spells and a few showers around, wintry on hills, longer spells of rain in the northern islands into shetland. single figure temperatures. that's the big difference across southern parts of the uk compared with tuesday. some spots reached as high as 16

that was roberto azevedo, head of the world trade organisation.usiness correspondent theo leggett is with me. he is saying that we are not there yet. what you take from that?‘ he is saying that we are not there yet. what you take from that? a lot depends on how much of donald trump's rhetoric makes it into practice, particularly with regard to china. donald trump has a position that trade deficits are bad, that the united states is importing too much and exporting not enough. many economists would disagree, but that is his position. he also thinks that imports particularly from china are costing american workers theirjobs, bringing in cheap imports which drive us manufacturers out of business. again there is another argument that a lot of american jobs have been lost because of increases in productivity, factories are managing to make things with fewer people, but that was his position and it was a core part of his electoral appeal. he is now putting that into practice. but with things like the 25% tariff on steel is 10% on aluminium, but temporar

roberto azevedo says we are now seeing the first movement towards a global trade war.fter the us announced tariffs. china responded the tariffs of its own. he was speaking to the bbc and he was asked how worried he was about unilateral action. he was asked how worried he was about unilateral actionlj he was asked how worried he was about unilateral action. i think the unilateral actions can take as in that direction. you characterise donald trump's actions as unilateral actions? i don't kehlet -- characterise anyone's actions. they know what they are. crosstalk you are not taking a noose was ability to show leadership. it does not matter. it doesn't matter when you find it is unilateral or not. the fact is, when you announce a certain types of measures and others deemed that those measures are not in compliance with their obligations and threatened to retaliate, that is a problem. the whole thing is a problem. the whole thing is a problem. how big a problem if it? it isa problem. how big a problem if it? it is a big problem. i have been saying this for quite sometime.

but the head of the world trade organisation, roberto azevedo, also said it wasn't too late to avoidt. in the last week, the leader of the world's biggest economy, us president donald trump, announced tariffs on $60bn of imports from china. that came just a day before a 25% tariff on us steel imports from most countries came into force. there's also a 10% levy on aluminium. china, which is the world's second biggest economy, has drawn up plans tariffs on $3 billion worth of us imports in return. so my colleague stephen sackur asked mr azevedo if he was worried that unilateral actions, like those of the trump administration, could lead to a global trade war. isaid i said that, and there is no reason to ta ke i said that, and there is no reason to take it back. unilateral actions can take us in the direction. you characterise donald trump's actions as unilateral actions? i do not characterise any one... they know what they are. you are not showing leadership. it does not matter. it does not matter whether you find that a measure is unilateral or not. the fact is when you announce certa

roberto azevedo told the bbc it was as a result of the steel and aluminium import tariffs announced by earlier this month. mr azevedo said the tariffs could prove to be a big problem if other countries retaliated. china and the european union are both threatening to do so. mark davies is the chief executive of the strategy consultancy, camberton. hejoins me now. it is good to see you. he was given a good grilling. it is called hardtalk. stephen sackur gave him a ha rd hardtalk. stephen sackur gave him a hard time. interesting what he had to say. the wto is in the eye of the storm at the moment. definitely. many people around the world want a trade war because they do not think the flows of trade that have lifted so the flows of trade that have lifted so many out of poverty are working for them. politicians around the world as a result are taking protective measures. if you were in charge of the wto, you would be very, very frustrated by that. charge of the wto, you would be very, very frustrated by thatm charge of the wto, you would be very, very frustrated by that. it is interesting.

director general roberto azevedo said recent you know lateral trade measures could escalate tensionswe heard today many many countries saying we have a concern with this there is a potential for his coalition we have to proceed very carefully and try to work within the framework of the. the comments came as the deputy o. is set for a stormy meeting on friday when the united states china and the european union will be among those airing their grievances about each other's trade policies. and with the most recent agreement on a transition period the european union and britain may have taken a decisive step towards the ukase withdrawal from the block but potential pitfalls remain take dribble to the colony on spain's saw the southernmost tip belongs to britain but voted almost unanimously against bracks it it's governor continues to insist that any breaks the deal must take to baltar's special status into consideration and gibraltar its economy is looking for solutions as well. it's lunchtime here in the restaurant world trade center and anyone eating here who wants to pay with crypto c

the head of the world trade organisation — roberto azevedo — has told the bbc that the world is seeingolleague stephen sackur. i think that unilateral action can take us in that direction. do you characterise donald trump's actions as unilateral actions? i don't characterise anybody‘s actions. they know what they are. what i am... but you seem to be abdicating any responsibility to show leadership. it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter whether you find a major is unilateral or not. the fact is that when you announce certain types of measures and others deem that those measures are not in compliance with their obligations and threaten to retaliate, that is the problem. that's where we are today. the whole thing is a problem. how big a problem is it? it's a big problem, i've been saying this for quite some time. it is a big problem. i don't think anybody believes that this is minor, even in the us administration. the reality is that these decisions are now ongoing. that was not the original announcement. the truth is... conversations are ongoing precisely because people are beginning to u