The WTO chief called for calm Friday in the face of a swelling global trade war as US President Donald Trump slaps steep tariffs against friends and foes alike.
"I understand the enormous amount of concerns that people have about what is going on," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a meeting at the World Trade Organization headquarters, insisting though that "we shouldn't panic.”
She downplayed fears that the new US administration, which has been harshly critical of WTO, might decide to withdraw, as it has done from the World Health Organization and other UN bodies.
Just back from Washington, where she met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Okonjo-Iweala said "the indications I got is that they remain part of WTO.”
"They want to remain engaged," she told the event, adding that this could "give us room to (be)... I don't want to use the word hopeful, but I think it gives us room to believe that the US still find some value in being able to engage with other members at the WTO.”
"That is one of the reasons I think we should keep calm, we should listen to their concerns," she said.
Since his return to office in January, Trump has introduced sweeping levies against several top US trading partners.
Even though tensions eased a notch on Thursday, after the United States hit pause on the 25-percent tariffs it slapped earlier this week on most goods coming from Mexico and Canada, the standoff with China continues.
The European Union is also in the crosshairs, with Trump threatening the bloc with 25-percent levies, while also signing plans for sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" that could hit both allies and adversaries alike by April 2.
According to AFP, Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged during Friday's event, attended among others by former German chancellor Angela Merkel, that "what is happening now with the tariffs ... is challenging for the system.”
It is "a difficult moment,” she acknowledged, but added: "I will not agree that the system is in chaos or in turmoil.”
"Although the United States is very, very important for world trade, and of course sets a signal," she highlighted that "there is 80 percent of world trade going on among other members of the WTO.”
Other members are "trading among themselves according to the rules that exist," she said. "They should continue to do so."
