The outlook marks a sharp downgrade from the WTO’s previous projections in April, when the Geneva-based organization predicted a 2.6% gain in global trade in 2019 and 3% the following year. It also underscores the risks facing international commerce as the U.S. threatens more tariffs on Chinese imports and prepares new, WTO-sanctioned levies on goods from the European Union.
(Oct 1): The World Trade Organization cut its global trade growth forecast for this year to the weakest level in a decade, warning that further rounds of tariffs in an environment of heightened uncertainty could spark a “destructive cycle of recrimination.”
The volume of merchandise trade will increase by 1.2% this year and 2.7% next year, after a 3% advance in 2018, the WTO said in a report published Tuesday.
