Mexico’s pick to run the World Trade Organization says he can fix its broken dispute resolution mechanism within 100 days, use it to ease US-China trade tensions and keep Washington from quitting the global trade body.

Jesús Seade, a veteran of three decades of negotiating trade agreements — most recently getting the USMCA trade pact between the US, Mexico and Canada across the line — is one of eight candidates to succeed Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo as director-general after he steps down in September.

The field is led by two female African former ministers — Kenya’s Amina Mohamed, a former trade minister who has chaired the WTO’s general council, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister and senior World Bank official. Mr Seade insists he is not disadvantaged by a widespread desire to make the multilateral body’s leadership more diverse.