World merchandise trade growth will slow to 3.9 per cent this year and 3.7 per cent next year, compared with 4.7 per cent in 2017, the WTO said in a revised forecast published Thursday. In April, the WTO said trade would grow by 4.4 per cent in 2018 and to 4 per cent in 2019. GENEVA—The World Trade Organization cut the outlook for global commerce though 2019 and warned that tension between major trading partners increasingly threatens economic growth. “More than ever, it is critical for governments to work through their differences and show restraint.”The global trade body’s assessment is an indicator of the stakes involved in the escalating U.S.-Chinese trade war. A full-blown global trade war “would knock around 17 per cent off global trade growth, and 1.9 per cent off GDP growth,” Azevedo said in a speech in Berlin on Sept. 25.

Source: thestar September 27, 2018 18:11 UTC