Associated Press Economics Writer Paul Wiseman
WASHINGTON (AP) – The head of the International Monetary Fund has urged countries to move “quickly” to resolve trade disputes that threaten global economic growth.
IMF Managing Director Christarina George Eva said the unpredictability arising from President Donald Trump’s aggressive tax campaign on foreign imports has led businesses to delay investments and consumers to curb spending.
“Uncertainty is bad for business,” she told reporters Thursday.
Georgieva’s comments come two days after the IMF downgraded its global economic growth outlook this year. The 191 Country lending organization aimed at promoting global growth, fiscal stability and reducing poverty has sharply lowered US forecasts. He said the chances of the world’s biggest economy falling into a recession could have risen from 25% to around 40%.
Georgieva warned that economic fallout from trade disputes would fall most strongly in poor countries with no money to offset the damage.
Since returning the White House in January, Trump has been actively imposing tariffs on American trading partners. Above all, he slapped China 145% import taxes and slapped 10% in almost every country in the world, raising US tariffs to levels seen over a century. But he repeatedly changed our policies – suddenly suspending or changing tariffs.
Trump’s tariffs – a sharp reversal of decades of US policy in favour of free trade – and the uncertainty around them caused a week of defeat in financial markets. But stocks gathered on Wednesday after the Trump administration signaled it was open to reducing China’s massive tariffs. “There’s a great opportunity here,” the US Treasury Department said Wednesday.
Original issue: April 24, 2025 9:49am EDT
