⁍ The World Trade Organization’s bid to select a new leader was plunged into uncertainty on Wednesday.

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⁍ The United States rejected the Nigerian woman proposed as the global trade watchdog’s next director-general.

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⁍ Washington has already paralysed the WTO’s role as global arbiter on trade by blocking appointments to its appeals panel.

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– The US is blocking Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from becoming the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, the Guardian reports. Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank managing director, was the only candidate left in the race to replace Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down from the post in August. According to Reuters, the US was the only country to vote against Okonjo-Iweala during a meeting of WTO ambassadors Wednesday. It’s unclear if the US will be able to block Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment when the WTO meets Nov. 9. Okonjo-Iweala was the only candidate left in the race after South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee dropped out of the running. The appointment of Okonjo-Iweala, who currently serves as chair of the GAVI vaccine alliance, would be a major change for the WTO, which Trump has called “horrible” and “biased towards China.”