A senior US trade official on Wednesday defended the World Trade Organisation and the multilateral trading system in the wake of the latest collapse of negotiations for a new round of tariff cuts in a broad range of industries.

“Even if the WTO has become extremely unwieldy, it would be crazy to walk away from Doha unless there is something better,” said Warren Maruyama, general counsel in the office of the US trade representative. “Right now, there is no plausible alternative.”