IMF, WTO, OECD vow to defend free trade against protectionism

AFP,BERLIN: The chiefs of the IMF, WTO and OECD vowed Monday in a joint statement to defend free trade against creeping protectionist 
trends, amid growing global alarm over US President Donald Trump’s “America First” call.
“Disappointing trade growth figures and the danger of increasing protectionist tendencies give us a clear incentive to support the international trading system even more,” said the statement, also signed by the heads of the World Bank and the ILO, as well as host of the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The World Trade Organization has forecasted that global trade would likely grow only within a range of 1.8 per cent to 3.1 per cent this year.
But of greater concern is the Trump administration’s attitude towards global commerce.
During his campaign, Trump described the WTO as a “disaster” and promised a more aggressive approach to open up foreign markets to US companies, including threatening to unilaterally imposing tariffs.
The US also refused at a G20 meeting in March to renew a long-standing anti-protectionist pledge, to the dismay of the group of top developed and developing nations.

IMF, WTO, OECD vow to defend free trade against protectionism

AFP,BERLIN: The chiefs of the IMF, WTO and OECD vowed Monday in a joint statement to defend free trade against creeping protectionist trends, amid growing global alarm over US President Donald Trumps America First call. Disappointing trade growth figures and the danger of increasing protectionist tendencies give us a clear incentive to support the international trading system even more, said the statement, also signed by the heads of the World Bank and the ILO, as well as host of the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The World Trade Organization has forecasted that global trade would likely grow only within a range of 1.8 per cent to 3.1 per cent this year. But of greater concern is the Trump administrations attitude towards global commerce. During his campaign, Trump described the WTO as a disaster and promised a more aggressive approach to open up foreign markets to US companies, including threatening to unilaterally imposing tariffs. The US also refused at a G20 meeting in March to renew a long-standing anti-protectionist pledge, to the dismay of the group of top developed and developing nations.