The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has forecast that global trade will fall this year because of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“The decline is expected to be particularly steep in North America” said the WTO said, where it forecasted trade to drop by more than a tenth.
It added “severe downside risks”, including reciprocal tariffs and political uncertainty, and could lead to an even sharper decline in global goods trade.
Ngozi Ikonjo Iweala, the WTO director general , called the “decoupling” of the US and China “a phenomenon that is really worrying to me”.
The WTO previously expected goods trade to expand by 2.7% in 2025 but it now forecasts it will fall by 0.2%.
Okonjo-Iweala said trade between the US and China is expected to plunge by 81%.
She said this would have “far reaching consequences”.
A baseline tariff of 10% on almost all foreign imports to the US kicked in on 5 April, although some countries and goods are exempt.
China has a much higher tariff, which now totals 145%.
