Washington/London | One of America's staunchest pro-trade warriors, who masterminded the 2005 US-Australia trade deal with John Howard, has endorsed Canberra's decision to back a breakaway WTO dispute system that bypasses the United States but warned against turning it into an anti-Washington rebuke.

Robert Zoellick, a former World Bank president, also cautioned that the World Trade Organisation's problems are far larger than last week's sudden resignation by director-general Roberto Azevedo, regardless of who wins the 2020 US election.