Yahoo TV

Okonjo-Iweala told the the Reuters Next conference the WTO's dispute settlement system had to be saved to prevent future trade wars, adding that Washington's "legitimate concerns" about overreach needed to be addressed.

Describing the current atmosphere as "fraught with geopolitical tensions," she warned of the risk of the rules-based trade system being replaced by a power-based system and said smaller countries would lose out the most from this.

"It’s absolutely important that we support multilateral trade and we don’t take it for granted," she said.

Okonjo-Iweala, director-general since March, said she saw many opportunities for the Geneva-based trade body, including in the area of climate change such as through the development of a global carbon price.