WTO trade rules face split as ministers meet in Yaounde

The World Trade Organization opened its 14th ministerial conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Thursday, March 26, 2026, against a backdrop of warnings about the sharpest trade disruption in roughly eight decades.

At the meeting, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the current global trade order cannot be restored and urged members to concentrate on building future arrangements to avoid what she described as a risk of a “disorderly collapse” of the institution.

Competing visions for the rules

The conference underscored how far apart major trading powers are on the direction of global trade governance. Those divisions are centered on whether the WTO’s core principles should remain the default or be replaced by narrower deals among subsets of countries.

The United States, represented by Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, argued for a “new world order” built around agreements among smaller groups of nations. Greer criticized the WTO’s most-favored nation principle, saying it has not delivered reciprocity.

MFN at the center of the dispute

Most-favored nation treatment is a foundational WTO concept that generally requires members to extend the same tariff terms to all other members. The principle currently applies to 72% of global trade, making any shift away from it consequential for cross-border pricing and market access.

China defended MFN as the “bedrock” of the trading system. The European Union, meanwhile, signaled interest in a “more flexible framework of rules,” citing concerns related to China.

Why the debate is intensifying now

Okonjo-Iweala’s warning landed as governments face heightened geopolitical strain and a more protectionist policy environment. The conference referenced broader tensions, including conflict in the Middle East, as part of the backdrop to current economic turbulence.

Institutional design is also a pressure point. The WTO’s requirement for consensus decisions has repeatedly produced deadlock, and the Yaounde meeting featured renewed calls to change how the organization reaches outcomes.

Risks, uncertainties, and what comes next

UK Trade Minister Chris Bryant warned that failing to secure a reform deal could accelerate fragmentation, with countries turning to separate and potentially incompatible sets of trade rules. Such a shift could raise compliance costs for exporters and complicate supply-chain planning for multinational firms.

What remains unclear is whether members can bridge the gap between preserving MFN-based multilateralism and moving toward more limited, plurilateral arrangements. The conference highlighted the stakes, but the source material does not specify any agreed text, timeline, or concrete reform package emerging from the meeting.