President Trump's trade war is causing the global economy to slow, with growth now heading for its weakest pace since the COVID-19 pandemic, the OECD warned on Tuesday .
The OECD cut its forecasts for most G20 economies and warned that easing trade tensions is key to boosting investment and keeping prices stable.
Álvaro Pereira, the OECD’s chief economist , said countries need to lower trade barriers. “Otherwise, the growth impact is going to be quite significant,” he said. “This has massive repercussions for everyone.”
The warning comes as the US is reportedly pushing countries for their "best offers" on trade by Wednesday. White House advisers have for weeks promised trade deals in the pipeline, with the only announced agreement so far coming with the United Kingdom.
Trump's self-imposed 90-day pause on his sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs is set to expire in early July.
Meanwhile, US tensions with two key trade partners amped up on Monday after Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum.
China responded to Trump's claim on Friday that it has "totally violated its agreement" with the US, in turn accusing the US of breaching the agreement and vowing to protect its interests.
“If the US insists on its own way and continues to damage China’s interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.
The escalation comes as the US-China detente — reached earlier this month, when each country eased sky-high tariffs on the other — looks more fragile amid both trade-related and other tensions.
US trade talks with the EU have also come back into focus as an early-July deadline also looms for Trump's 50% tariffs on imports from the bloc. The EU on Monday said it "strongly" regrets Trump's hike on steel and aluminum imports, saying it undermines planned trade talks.
Meanwhile, Trump's most sweeping tariffs face legal uncertainty after a federal appeals court allowed the tariffs to temporarily stay in effect, a day after the US Court of International Trade blocked their implementation , deeming the method used to enact them "unlawful."
Administration officials also hinted that court rulings would not be the final say. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul has an overview of the other maneuvers Trump could pursue.
Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world.
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