The focus at the WTO biennial ministerial conference from December 10 will be the lack of a ministerial declaration committing to multilateral trade. That should not be a surprise given the evolution global trade this year, with the Trump administration advocating bilateral deals while an alphabet soup of trade deals (CPTPP, RCEP, CETA, EPA, BTIA etc) are pursued elsewhere.

Yet, global trade activity remains robust with a 5% growth in the 12 months to September 30, led by Japan and emerging Asia. The rate of growth has accelerated vs. the end of 2016 and 2015, though the hurdle...