Spare developing countries from new US tariffs: UN trade chief

ONU - 10/04
As governments and global markets struggle to deal with the massive upheaval unleashed by the United States’ unilateral trade tariffs, Rebeca Grynspan, the head of the UN trade agency (UNCTAD) told UN News on Thursday that the poorest countries – which have a negligible effect on the US trade deficit – should be exempt.

Ms. Grynspan was speaking in the wake of growing UN concern at the effect on-going uncertainty could have on the most vulnerable developing economies.

On Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated that “trade wars are extremely negative,” and warned that the impact of tariffs could be “devastating.”

Tariffs are a tax on imports coming into a country which are usually charged to the exporter as a percentage of value – an extra cost which is normally passed on to the consumer.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday morning, the UNCTAD chief appealed for the US to reconsider its strategy, noting that the 44 Least Developed Countries contribute less than two per cent of the US’s trade deficit, and that higher tariffs would only make their existing debt crisis much worse.

Speaking to UN News, Ms. Grynspan l...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]