GENEVA The head of the World Trade Organization said Thursday that he will leave his post a year early, a personal decision that sets the stage for a succession contest at the trade body amid lingering U.S.-China tensions and a coronavirus pandemic that has doused the global economy.

Roberto Azevedo, a 62-year-old Brazilian, said he will step down Aug. 31 as WTO director-general, ending a seven-year tenure marked in recent years by intense pressure from President Donald Trump, who repeatedly accused the Geneva-based trade body of unfair treatment of the United States and launched a trade war with China in defiance of the WTO system.

This is a decision that I do not take lightly, Azevedo told a special meeting of WTO delegations. It is a personal decision - a family decision and I am convinced that this decision serves the best interests of this organization.

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Head of World Trade Organization to step down early - Minneapolis Star Tribune