IMF urges nations to avoid trade wars risking growth

Bloomberg

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned governments not to rock the boat with trade wars and other disruptions at a time when the global economy is already sailing through choppy waters.
“We see downside risk and that means one has to be very careful,” IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton told Bloomberg Television. “With trade tensions, not knowing where monetary policy is going to go, not knowing how Chinese growth will turn out, it’s time to make sure
policymakers do no harm.”
He urged the US and other nations to resolve their trade conflicts — a key downside risk the IMF has repeatedly warned about since President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs last year. “The last thing we want is another downturn,” Lipton said, on the sidelines of the fund’s spring meetings in Washington.
The threat of political missteps is looming over the global economy amid a backlash against free trade that has fueled the rise of populist governments around the world. The IMF this week downgraded its outlook for world growth in 2019 to the lowest since the financial crisis a decade ago, as conditions worsened in most major
advanced economies.