Geneva: Global merchandise trade growth is expected to slow to 2.6% in volume terms in 2019 from 3% in 2018, as the US-China trade war continued to generate uncertainty in the world economy, figures released by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Tuesday showed. Nevertheless, WTO expects trade growth to increase to 3% in volume terms in 2020 if trade tensions subside in the coming months following the ongoing US-China trade talks. The ratio between trade growth and GDP growth is expected to remain at 1:1 in 2019, Azevedo said. “The historical high of 2:1 between global trade growth and the GDP growth before the 2008 financial crisis is difficult to reach," he added. Later, in response to a query, he acknowledged that the US-China trade war are the main source of rising global trade restrictive measures of more than $350 billion last year.

Source: Mint April 02, 2019 16:52 UTC