Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo vowed to revive the deadlocked World Trade Organisation, as he was confirmed this week as the incoming leader of the body which sets the rules for global commerce.
The next head of the World Trade Organization will be either Mexico's Herminio Blanco or Brazil's Roberto Azevedo, guaranteeing a Latin American nation will hold the top job at the global trade body for the first time, although they made it to the short list in previous occasions-.
France said it would block proposed negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States unless cultural sectors, such as television and radio, were excluded from the talks.
The European Union, United States and Japan presented a formal complaint before the World Trade Organization questioning the legitimacy of some measures adopted by Brazil to protect domestic manufacturing, particularly in the auto industry.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has upheld its decision that China's tariffs on imports of certain US steel products were illegal. Beijing had imposed duties on a particular kind of US steel, alleging that its makers were being given subsidies by the US government.