Wednesday, July 30, 2025 9:00AM ET / 1:00 UTC/GMT (see time zone conversions )
This Webinar is open to all WITSA members, companies, friends and colleagues!
Speaker: Bernard Kuiten, Head of External Relations, World Trade Organization (bio)
Date: July 30, 2025 (Wednesday)
Time: 9:00 am EDT / 1:00 UTC/GMT
The World Trade Organization (WTO), the bedrock of global commerce, is facing an existential crisis. As protectionist impulses surge and nations increasingly retreat behind trade barriers, the very foundations of the rules-based international order are challenged. Tariffs, subsidies, and unilateral actions are not just disrupting supply chains; they are actively dismantling the painstakingly built framework of global cooperation, threatening to plunge us into a chaotic era of trade wars and economic fragmentation. How can the WTO reclaim its relevance and pull the world back from the brink, as well as overcoming the decline of multilateralism in favor of a dangerous, "every nation for itself" mentality? Join our webinar to dissect these urgent questions and explore what lies ahead for the future of global trade.
Bernard Kuiten heads External Relations at the World Trade Organization where he
oversees the organization's dealings with the private sector, civil society,
parliamentarians and other intergovernmental organizations. Bernard is a former trade
negotiator and a highly seasoned speaker on trade and WTO matters. Earlier in his
career, he worked for the Netherlands and the European Commission on a number of
trade files, including shipbuilding, steel and services trade in general. He specialized in
financial, telecommunication and audio-visual services when working for the European
Commission. He is a member and former president of the International Geneva Council
of the Swiss Network of International Studies and an Advisory Board Member of the
Model WTO at the University of St. Gallen.
