Dysfunction and division darken the WTO’s 30-year dream of free trade

The Guardian

Lean Left

Mixed Factuality

Independent: Scott Trust Limited

Dysfunction and division darken the WTO’s 30-year dream of free trade

As the organisation’s anniversary nears, borders around the world are closing againWhen trade ministers gathered in the Moroccan city of Marrakech 30 years ago this month to sign the agreement creating the World Trade Organization (WTO), the mood was celebratory. The Berlin Wall had come down only recently, communism had collapsed, and there was optimistic talk of how the body would prise open new markets and act as the arbiter when disputes bro…