Finance ministers from G20 have said that trade tensions are likely to undermine the global economy.
Following a two-day meeting in Buenos Aires, G20 ministers warned that growth in advanced economies is becoming “less synchronised”.
The summit comes following Trump’s plans to say the US was ready to slap tariffs on all $500 billion of imports from China.
In a statement, G20 ministers said that the risks to growth “over the short and medium term have increased. These include rising financial vulnerabilities, heightened trade and geopolitical tensions.”
“International trade and investment are important engines of growth. We need to recognise the need to step up dialogue and actions to mitigate risks and enhance confidence.”
Trump is escalating trade tensions and last week called the EU a “foe” on trade.
“I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe,” he said last week.
“In a trade sense, they’ve really taken advantage of us and many of those countries are in Nato and they weren’t paying their bills and, you know, as an example a big problem with Germany,” he added.
The G20 mentioned specific risks to global trade: “These include rising financial vulnerabilities, heightened trade and geopolitical tensions, global imbalances, inequality and structurally weak growth, particularly in some advanced economies.”
“We … recognize the need to step up dialogue and actions to mitigate risks and enhance confidence.”
Shares in the FTSE dropped in early trading and was down 0.35 percent or 26 points at 7652.
In Asian markets, Japan’s Topix is down 0.35 percent and the Australian S&P/ASX 290 down by almost one percent.
