Trump's WTO threats matter – especially to a post-Brexit Britain

The World Trade Organisation is already hurtling towards a crisis, with the US having blocked new appeal judges

The World Trade Organisation is hurtling towards crisis. Set up more than two decades ago to break down protectionist barriers and to ensure countries play by the rules of international commerce, the WTO is firmly in Donald Trump's isolationist sights.

Up to now, the White House has been waging war by stealth. Trump has garnered the big headlines for his broadsides against China, the European Union, and Canada, while at the same time conducting a quiet war against the WTO.