World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has expressed concern over the growing dependence of many countries on the United States to meet their market demands.

She made the remarks during her address at the CNN Global Perspectives conference.

The former World Bank Managing Director noted that the trade tariffs introduced under U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration had caused the most significant disruption to global commerce in the last eight decades.

Gossip News Now recalls that on April 3, Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on all imports into the U.S., sparking a series of trade-related crises around the world.

While discussing the impact of these tariffs, Okonjo-Iweala described them as the greatest shock to international trade in 80 years.

She said, “The effects are evident — the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade share has fallen from 80 percent to 72 percent. The global trade system was designed for interdependence, not excessive dependence.”

Okonjo-Iweala further emphasized that many economies have become overly reliant on the U.S. for demand and on China for essential supplies.

“This should serve as a wake-up call for countries to diversify both their demand and supply chains,” she added.

According to her, despite recent challenges, the global trading framework developed over the past eight decades has largely contributed to shared prosperity among nations.