GENEVA—The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 164 members approved a series of trade agreements early on Friday that included commitments on fish and pledges on health and food security after more than five gruelling days of negotiations. The deals were ground out over five days of bargaining at a conference of more than 100 trade ministers…

WASHINGTON—Fragmentation of the global economy and a retreat from global trade would make countries more vulnerable to production shocks arising from natural disasters and outbreaks of fatal diseases, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday. WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told an event hosted by the National Foreign Trade Council that economists…

GENEVA—The head of the World Trade Organization stressed the importance of reforming the global trade body to prevent further trade wars but warned it would be “very tough” amid high geopolitical tensions. The 27-year-old global trade body, under pressure to prove its relevance, was due to have held a major ministerial meeting this week and…

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will have an online meeting on Wednesday with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organization, Tai’s media office said, weeks before it holds an import ministerial conference. Tai spoke by telephone earlier this month with the head of the WTO and acknowledged the “difficult logistical challenges” facing the…

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration announced on Friday that it would support the candidacy of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister, to lead the World Trade Organization, ending a months-long standoff at the organization. The announcement came after South Korea’s trade minister Yoo Myung-hee withdrew her candidacy, clearing the way for Okonjo-Iweala to be director-general of…