On Thursday, January 23, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), cautioned against retaliatory trade conflicts triggered by the United States and President Donald Trump’s tariff threats aimed at various nations.
Okonjo-Iweala urged other countries to avoid mirroring Trump’s actions, labeling the potential outcome as ‘disastrous.’
Her remarks followed Trump’s warnings of trade disputes with Russia regarding the situation in Ukraine.
While addressing the participants at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in the Swiss resort of Davos, Okonjo-Iweala stated: “Should there be reciprocal retaliation, whether it’s a 25% tariff or 60%, and if we regress to the economic landscape of the 1930s, we could witness substantial double-digit declines in global GDP. That would be disastrous. The consequences will be felt by all.”
She referenced the two World Wars when nations imposed trade barriers in response to an American tariff legislation from 1930.