On 7 July, the Friends of Multilateralism Group (FMG) held the Annual Board Meeting and on 6 and 7 August, FMG held the 2025 General Assembly. Both meetings were chaired by Mia Mikic, Chair of Board of FMG.
At the two meetings, FMG Board and FMG members have discussed on the new members, Appointment of FMG CEO, Election of the next Chair and Vice Chair of Board, FMG activities and the participation of in FMG activities in the last reporting period (July 2025-the end of June 2026), FMG financial report, FMG 10-year Review, among other issues.
34 FMG members have participated in the GA.
Annex 1: List of Participants at the GA
- Mia Mikic
- Mario Matus
- Xiankun Lu
- Hamid Mamdouh
- Alan Wolff
- Jonathan Fried
- Sherry Stephenson
- Clemens Boonekamp
- Rosine Plank
- John Weekes
- Cecilia Malmstrom
- Wenhua Ji
- Alejandro Jara Puga
- Maria Pagan
- Simon Lester
- Hilda Al-Hinai
- Mona Paulsen
- Trudi Hartzenberg
- Patrick Low
- Cristian Rodriguez-Chiffelle
- Simon Evenett
- Stuart Harbinson
- Victor Luiz Do Prado
- Maxim Medvedkov
- Andrea Spear
- Sofia Boza
- Willy Alfaro
- Janet Macharia
- Hiromi Yano
- Jayashree Watal
- George Riddell
- Keith Rockwell
- Xinquan Tu
- Elizabeth Chelliah
Annex 2: Agenda of Board Meeting
1.Approval of the Minutes of previous General Assembly (Annex 1);
2.Confirmation of new FMG/FFMG members from July 2025 to the end of June 2026
3.Appointment of the CEO
4.Election of the next Chair and Vice Chair of Board
5.FMG Annual Activity Report 2026 (July 2025-June 2026)
6.Annual Report on the Participation in FMG Public Sessions (July 2025- the end of June 2026)
7.Annual Report on the Participation of FMG/FFMG members in FMG Activities (July 2025-the end of June 2026)
8.Report on the Diversity of FMG Members (as of the end of June 2026)
9.FMG Annual Financial Report 2025
10.FMG Candidates
11.Other business
Annex 3: Agenda of GA
- Confirmation of New FMG members
- Taking note of New FFMG
- Approval of the Minutes of the previous General Assembly (Annex 1)
- Appointment of the CEO
- Election of the next Chair and Vice Chair of Board
- Approval of the Annual Activity Report (Annex 2)
- Annual Report on the Participation in FMG Public Sessions (July 2025- the end of June 2026) (Annex 3)
- Annual Report on the Participation of FMG/FFMG members in FMG Activities (July 2025 – the end of June 2026) (Annex 4)
- Report on the Diversity of FMG Members (as of the end of June 2026) (Annex 5)
- FMG Annual Financial Report 2025 (Annex 6)
- FMG 10-Year Review
- Other business
Annex 4: FMG Activity Report (July 2025-the end of June 2026)
I.Activity report July 2025- the end of June 2026
From July 2025 to the end of June 2026, FMG continued to provide both virtual and hybrid meetings and organised a total of 23 activities covering a wide range of issues, including:
1.Brainstorming sessions (8): FMG Webinar “WTO Ministerial Conferences-Lessons to Learn from the History; FMG Webinar on MC14 and WTO Reform; FMG Webinar on Countries’ Withdrawal from International Organizations; FMG Webinar on the ICC Report on WTO Reform; FMG Webinar “Pax Sinica: Options for the WTO and for Latin America”; FMG Working Lunch on WTO Reform; FMG Webinar on U.S. trade policy and the WTO; FMG Webinar on “How to Win a Trade War- Book presentation”
2.Internal briefings or discussions (8): FMG Internal Briefing by Joao Aguiar Machado on MC14 and Reform; FMG Internal Briefing by Sofia Boza on MC14 and WTO Reform; FMG Internal Discussions on MC14 Outcomes; FMG Internal Discussions on MFN; FMG Internal Briefing on the Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering in Davos; FMG Internal Briefing on EU-CPTPP and WTO Reform; FMG Internal Briefing by former DDG of the WTO Angela Ellard; FMG Internal Briefing on UNCTAD report “Primer on data for trade in services and development policies”
3.Trade Policy Preview (TP-P) Sessions (2): FMG “Trade Policy Preview” (TP-P) Session on Japan; FMG “Trade Policy Preview” (TP-P) Session on the UK.
4.High-Level Dialogue Series on the Future of WTO Reform (2): Dialogue with Andrew Wilson: Session 06 of FMG High-level Dialogue Series “The Future of WTO Reform”; Dialogue with Amina Mohamed: Session 05 of FMG High-level Dialogue Series “The Future of WTO Reform”
5.WTO Disputes Decoding Series (3): FMG Webinar on WTO DS616 and DS618 Panel Reports; FMG Webinar on Tax Credits aspects of the US IRA, WT DS623; WTO’s Arbitral Decision on Chinese SEP Practices in DS611
List of all FMG activities in the reporting period
1)July 15th 2025 | FMG Webinar on U.S. trade policy and the WTO
2)September 4th 2025 | WTO’s Arbitral Decision on Chinese SEP Practices in DS611
3)September 18th 2025 | FMG Working Lunch on WTO Reform
4)September 25th 2025 | FMG Internal Briefing by former DDG of the WTO Angela Ellard
5)October 14th 2025 | FMG “Trade Policy Preview”(TP-P) Session on the UK
6)October 23rd 2025 | Dialogue with Amina Mohamed: Session 05 of FMG High-level Dialogue Series “The Future of WTO Reform”
7)November 10th 2025 | FMG Webinar “Pax Sinica: Options for the WTO and for Latin America”
8)December 2nd 2025 | Dialogue with Andrew Wilson: Session 06 of FMG High-level Dialogue Series “ The Future of WTO Reform”
9)December 15th 2025 | FMG Internal Briefing on EU-CPTPP and WTO Reform
10)January 28th 2026 | FMG Internal Briefing on the Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering in Davos
11)January 29th 2026 | FMG Webinar on the ICC Report on WTO Reform
12)February 9th 2026 | FMG Webinar on Countries’ Withdrawal from International Organizations
13)March 6th 2026 | FMG Webinar on Tax Credits aspects of the US IRA, WT DS623
14)March 11st and 12nd 2026 | FMG Internal Discussions on MFN
15)April 3rd and 4th 2026 | FMG Internal Discussions on MC14 Outcomes
16)April 10th 2026 | FMG Internal Briefing on UNCTAD report “Primer on data for trade in services and development policies”
17)April 16th 2026 | FMG Webinar on WTO DS616 and DS618 Panel Reports
18)April 23rd 2026 | FMG Internal Briefing by Sofia Boza on MC14 and WTO Reform
19)April 30th 2026 | FMG Webinar on MC14 and WTO Reform
20)May 8th 2026 | FMG Internal Briefing by Joao Aguiar Machado on MC14 and WTO Reform
21)May 21st 2026 | FMG “Trade Policy Preview”(TP-P) Session on Japan
22)June 5th 2026 | FMG Webinar “WTO Ministerial Conferences-Lessons to Learn from the History”
23)June 18th 2026 | FMG Webinar on “How to Win a Trade War- Book presentation”
II.New FMG/FFMG Members
This year, the following 27 persons became FMG/FFMG members (in alphabetical order of family name):
(1)Joao AGUIAR MACHADO
(2)Sofia BOZA
(3)Elizabeth CHELLIAH
(4)Fredrik ERIXON
(5)Hervé JOUANJEAN
(6)Simon LESTER
(7)Chin Leng LIM
(8)Marco MOLINA
(9)María L. PAGÁN
(10)Mona PAULSEN
(11)George RIDDELL
(12)Keith ROCKWELL
(13)Iain SANDFORD
(14)Ben SHEPHERD
(15)Miho SHIROTORI
(16)Mills SOKO
(17)Andrea SPEAR
(18)Susan STONE
(19)Craig THORN
(20)Rolf TRAEGER
(21)Guillermo VALLES GALMES
(22)Hiromi YANO
(23)Xiaopeng YIN
(24)Yan ZHANG
(25)Weihuan ZHOU
FFMG:
(1)Bechir N’DAW, UNAIDS
(2)Tomochika Uyama, WTO
III.Participation in All FMG Sessions
This year, the average number of participants in all FMG sessions (including public and internal sessions) was around 45 (2024-2025: 48.8, 2023-2024: 35.7), ranging from nearly 17 on the low end to over 93 on the high end.
IV.Publications of Members and FFMG (with links reposted on the FMG website )
1.July 2025 | Peter Draper | I’m going to send letters: the deadline for Trump’s reciprocal trade tariffs is looming
2.July 2025 | Peter Ungphakorn & Robert Wolfe | Ursula von der Leyen is wrong about the WTO and should know better
3.July 2025 | Alan Wolff | Trade and managing the threat of Iran’s nuclear capabilities
4.July 2025 | Ignacio Garcia Bercero & Andrea Spear | The time is right to make a European Union-India trade deal happen
5.July 2025 | Peter Ungphakorn & Robert Wolfe | Ølberg’s report shows members even disagree on meaning of ‘WTO reform’
6.July 2025 | Peter Ungphakorn & Robert Wolfe | Here’s a thought: the WTO doesn’s need reform, but it does need help
7.July 2025 | Hector Torres | It’s right China and India should demand a bigger IMF role
8.July 2025 | Peter Ungphakorn | Brazil attacks US and calls for WTO members to support trade rules
9.July 2025 | Alan Wolfe | Is US tariff policy reshaping the world trading system?
10.July 2025 | John Weekes | Thinking the Unthinkable in Trump’s trade war
11.July 2025 | Alan Wolff | What is the likely future for Trump’s tariffs?
12.July 2025 | Alan Wolff | Trump tariffs and the courts: Round 2
13.August 2025 | Alan Wolff | Who gets compensated if Trump’s tariffs are ruled illegal?
14.August 2025 | Peter Draper | It might seem like Trump is winning his trade war. But the US could soon be in a world of pain
15.August 2025 | Andre Spear | Globalisation and the reform of European social models
16.August 2025 | Alan Wolff | Are Trump’s tariffs a path to a new world trade order?
17.August 2025 | Simon Evenett | The August 2025 US-EU Trade Framework: The Epitome of a Binding-Free Trade Understanding
18.August 2025 | Alan Wolff | Trump’s Nvidia-AMD deal adds to the legal questions about US trade policies
19.September 2025 | Peter Draper | As Trump abandons the rulebook on trade, does free trade have a future elsewhere?
20.September 2025 | Peter Ungphakorn | WTO fisheries subsidies agreement – celebrate, yes, but get real too
21.September 2025 | Alan Wolff | Using AI to support the core functions of the WTP of the future
22.September 2025 | Andre Spear | Geopolitical shifts and their economic impacts on Europe: short-term risks, medium-term scenarios and policy choices
23.September 2025 | Stuart Harbinson | Can the WTO Weather the Storm
24.September 2025 | Wenhua Ji | Safeguarding the Multilateral Trading System and Reforming the Global Economic Governance System
25.September 2025 | Wenhua Ji | China’s New Declaration: Firmly Backing Multilateral Trading System, Demonstrating Responsibility and Accountability as a Major Country
26.September 2025 | Hector Torres | The Orwellian Trap for Services in “Reciprocal” Trade Deals
27.September 2025 | Alan Wolff | The international progressives: A source of hope for the world trading system
28.September 2025 | John Weekes | Setting the Stage for the CUSMA Review
29.
30.October 2025 | Alan Wolff | US tariff policy: At this time, the brakes don’t work
31.October 2025 | Alan Wolff | What should guide the Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s tariffs?
32.October 2025 | Ignacio Garcia Bercero | The EU should moderate its steel protection plan
33.October 2025 | Petros C. Mavroidis | Tariffs, deals and multilateral ideals: can the World Trade Organization survive?
34.October 2025 | Alan Wolff | How unprecedented are Trump’s “emergency tariffs”?
35.October 2025 | Jennifer Hillman | Are Trump’s tariffs legal? With Jennifer Hillman
36.October 2025 | Mia Mikic & Sherry Stephenson | Enhancing Women’s Economic Empowerment in APEC through Greater Participation in High Skill Digitally Delivered Services
37.October 2025 | Mia Mikic & Sherry Stephenson | Indigenous peoples and trade agreements: A trade and economic cooperation analysis and proposed good practices
38.November 2025 | Mia Mikic & Sherry Stephenson | Inclusive Trade Still Lags Behind: Why Asia-Pacific Must Catch Up on Indigenous and Other Marginalised Groups in FTAs
39.November 2025 | Alan Wolff | Trump’s Blanket Tariffs Are a Bridge Too Far
40.November 2025 | Alan Wolff | International trade policy in a disrupted world
41.November 2025 | Alan Wolff | US “reciprocal” tariffs and the WTO
42.November 2025 | Alan Wolff | Trump’s tariffs: A crash course in home economics
43.November 2025 | Cecilia Malmstrom | The European Union is forging a new strategic alliance with Latin America
44.November 2025 | Cecilia Malmstrom | Thank you for music! What are tariffs doing to music industry?
45.November 2025 | Ignacio Garcia Bercero | A first step in coalition building to reform the global trading system
46.December 2025 | Peter Ungphakorn | WTO report’s adoption and the binding nature of appeal-by-arbitration
47.December 2025 | Xiankun Lu | Recap of FMG Discussion on Global Turbulence and WTO Reform IV
48.December 2025 | Alan Wolff | Trump’s proposed reforms of the WTO: Some good, some not
49.January 2026 | Stuart Harbinson | WTO Reform – Be Careful What You Wish For?
50.January 2026 | Xinquan Tu | Evolution, Transformation, and China’s Role in Post-War International Trade Governance
51.January 2026 | Alan Wolff | Did the Supreme Court just signal the fate of Trump’s tariffs?
52.January 2026 | Simon Evenett | Building Geopolitical Muscle: How Companies Turn Insights into Strategic Advantage
53.January 2026 | Alan Wolff | Bamboozled: What made anyone think the Trump tariffs were legal?
54.January 2026 | Alan Wolff | Can the rule of law be restored to the world trading system?
55.January 2026 | Simon Evenett | Kissinger’s Question Inverted: Distributed Power and Escalation Dominance in the Greenland Crisis
56.January 2026 | Alan Wolff | Can Trump legally apply tariffs on US allies over Greenland?
57.January 2026 | Peter Draper | What the ‘mother of all deals’ between India and the EU means for global trade
58.March 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Text: ‘facilitator’ Ølberg’s March 2026 report on WTO reform for Yaoundé
59.March 2026 | Alan Wolff | Will Trump’s latest gambit to impose his tariffs be upheld by the courts?
60.March 2026 | Cecilia Malmstrom | Can the EU lead a new world order in trade?
61.March 2026 | Cecilia Malmstrom | The new age of Western industrial policy: Is there a new playbook?
62.March 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Treading water—what to expect at the Yaoundé WTO Conference
63.March 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Treading water—what hopes for a ‘Reform Ministerial’ for the WTO?
64.March 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Treading water—why ministers must save the WTO from drowning
65.March 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | The important but forgotten issue in ‘WTO reform’: external transparency
66.March 2026 | Henry Gao | China and international economic dispute settlement: disaggregating the state
67.March 2026 | Gabrielle Marceau | The World Trade Organization Belongs to the Future – But How Do We Get There?
68.March 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | ‘Broken’, ‘moribund’ — Journalists need a better thesaurus on the WTO
69.March 2026 | John Clarke | Just A Flesh Wound
70.April 2026 | Simon Evenett | After Action Review of MC14
71.April 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | The WTO conference was worse than we expected, so why all the smiles?
72.April 2026 | Simon Evenett | Toward Active Custodianship of the WTO
73.April 2026 | Alan Wolff | What’s next for Trump’s tariffs?
74.April 2026 | Maria Pagan | What is America’s problem with the WTO?
75.April 2026 | Cecilia Malmstrom | Trade 360 degrees: Trade Winds LIVE from DC!
76.April 2026 | Simon Evenett | Use the WTO to address global fertilizer supply constraints related to the Iran war
77.April 2026 | Simon Evenett | Oil Prices and World Trade
78.April 2026 | Alan Wolff | Trump’s latest tariffs in court: Are they about to be blocked?
79.May 2026 | John Weekes | Thoughts on the CUSMA Review and Negotiating with Trump
80.May 2026 | Wenhua Ji | A Multilateral Trading System in the Wake of US Reciprocal Tariffs: The Multilateralization Dilemma of Bilateral Preferential Treatment and Policy Responses
81.May 2026 | Gabrielle Marceau | Imperfect Agreements Can Protect and Implement the Rule of Law and Sustainable Development: A New Way of Working at the WTO
82.May 2026 | Alan Wolff | Why do Trump’s tariffs have such staying power?
83.May 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | First WTO fish committee meeting hears warning of notifications burden
84.May 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Post-Yaoundé WTO General Council: this non-event was not as promised
85.May 2026 | Simon Evenett | Old Wine in New Bottles: What the 1980s Record on Managed Trade Means for the Proposed US-China Board of Trade
86.May 2026 | Simon Evenett | The Missing Deliverable: The US-China Board of Trade in Sharper Relief
87.May 2026 | Alan Wolff | Haunted by tariffs and trade wars: A positive trade policy for US agriculture
88.May 2026 | Alan Wolff | Using trade to undergird peace
89.May 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Subscriber alert. Recent up-dates on WTO fisheries subsidies, Brexit(sic)
90.May 2026 | Alan Wolff | Will Trump’s third attempt to impose tariffs survive in the courts
91.May 2026 | Simon Evenett | Divide and Rule?
92.June 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Five ‘facilitators’ picked for members’ talks on WTO reform
93.June 2026 | Peter Ungphakorn | Subscriber alert. 4 years on,26% of global fishing is still outside WTO rules
94.June 2026 | John Clarke | Sleepless in Xi’an? A New Start for China-Europe Relations
95.June 2026 | Alan Wolff | The pope,AI, and the WTO
96.June 2026 | Alan Wolff | International trade policy on America’s 250th birthday
97.June 2026 | Alan Wolff | Europe of the Future 250- Trade Policy
98.June 2026 | Mia Mikic & Sherry Stephenson | International Chamber of Commerce Open Market Index 2026
V.Publicity
1.FMG activities are regularly shared via the FMG official website, LinkedIn, WeChat and Spotify.
2.Brainstorming Sessions are recorded and shared via the above social channels and through YouTube FMG and Spotify FMG. As of 28 June 2026, the FMG YouTube channel had 265 followers.
Over the past year (July 2025-June 2026), our YouTube videos averaged 110 views each (down from 210 in 2024-2025), with a total of 1,851 views (compared to 3,774 in the previous period).
The top 3 most-viewed sessions were:
lMFN Principles-311 views
lWTO’s Arbitral Decision on Chinese SEP Practices in DS611- 283 views
lOptions for the WTO and for Latin America-187 views
3.FMG and FFMG members have been encouraged to help with publicity by using their FMG/FFMG titles, logos and sharing FMG activities and publications.
4.FMG has circulated seven newsletters for July 2025, August-September 2025, October 2025, November-December 2025, January-February 2026, March 2026, April-May 2026. The June-July 2026 newsletter will be distributed after GA.
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