World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned against escalating trade wars, emphasizing the catastrophic impact on the global economy. She cautioned against knee-jerk reactions to tariffs, urging nations to explore alternative solutions and avoid retaliatory measures that could lead to a repeat of the 1930s economic crisis.
DAVOS, Switzerland — World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged nations Thursday to keep calm over tariffs, warning that a tit-for-tat trade war would be 'catastrophic' for the world economy.Okonjo-Iweala issued her appeal during a panel discussion on tariffs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in a week that saw US President Donald Trump threaten tariffs against China, the European Union, Mexico and Canada.
I just sense a lot of hyperventilation.'She recalled the fallout from the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in the United States during the Great Depression in 1930, which prompted retaliation and worsened the global economic crisis at the time.'We are very much saying to our members at the WTO: 'You have other avenues. Even if a tariff is levied, please keep calm, don't wake up and without the necessary groundwork levy your own,'' she said.
Tariffs Trade War WTO Global Economy Smoot-Hawley Act
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