IMF chief says U.S. tariff risks dragging on global growth

IMF chief says U.S. tariff risks dragging on global growth
An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 19, 2024 shows cargo ships docking at the Tonghai Port Area, a container terminal, at Nantong Port in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province. In the first three quarters this year, the Tonghai Port saw about 1.17 million TEU of container throughput in total, up 21.82 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)

WASHINGTON, APRIL 1 (Xinhua) — Uncertainty around U.S. tariffs risks denting global economic activity, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), said on Monday.

The longer the uncertainty persists about U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to tariff policy, the greater the risk to the outlook, Georgieva was quoted by Reuters as saying.

“Uncertainty, our research shows, the longer it goes, the more it may negatively impact growth,” she said in an interview with Reuters.

The IMF is seeing signs in recent data that consumer and investor confidence is weakening, and that then translates into impacts on growth prospects, which may be enough to trigger a “small correction” downward in the IMF’s global growth forecast, Georgieva said.

Trump has announced a wide array of tariff threats, with some already in place and more expected to be announced on Wednesday.