The Director General of the World Trade Organization, WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Thursday, January 23 warned against any reciprocated trade wars prompted by the United States, US, and President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on different countries.
She then enjoined other states not to respond in kind to Trump, as she describes such potential situation would be ‘catastrophic.’
Okonjo-Iweala speaking during the World Economic Forum annual meeting at the Swiss resort of Davos said: ‘If we have tit-for-tat retaliation, whether it’s 25% tariff (or) 60% and we go to where we were in the 1930s we’re going to see double-digit global GDP losses. That’s catastrophic. Everyone will pay.’
Her comment came after Trump threatened trade wars against Russia over the battle in Ukraine.
Referencing the two World Wars when countries adopted trade restrictions in response to a US tariff act in 1930.
She said, ‘We’ve seen this movie, as I said, elsewhere in the 1930s with the Smoot-Hawley Act. It made it worse.’ she said.
She continues: ‘We’re very much saying to our members at the WTO, you have other avenues, even if a tariff is levied, please keep calm.’
