The World Trade Organization meets under a cloud of crises in Argentina from Sunday.
Photo from Flickr
The Buenos Aires meeting will be the first in the era of US President Donald Trump, who has pummeled the 164-member body relentlessly since taking office, even describing it as a "disaster."
The Trump administration had made the WTO a preferred target of its "America First" policy, threatening to pull America out of the trade organization it says is hampering its ability to compete.
Expectations of any kind of a breakthrough at the Buenos Aires meeting are low.
"There are several subjects on the table. On any of them, we may have some convergences on certain topics, or not, I don't know," was the underwhelming assessment of WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo at a briefing at the end of November.
Argentina's Susana Malcorra, who will preside over December 10-13 meeting, was more upbeat recently, saying a deal was likely to end harmful fisheries subsidies, keenly of interest to developing countries.
She was also positives about the prospects of an EU-Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) trade deal finally coming to fruition 18 years after talks first began.
