IMF slashes global outlook as White House says trade talks pick up pace

Nupur Anand - Reuters - 23:51
Worldwide economic output will slow in the months ahead as U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on virtually all trading partners begin to bite, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday as global finance chiefs swarmed Washington seeking deals with Trump's team to lower the levies.
  • Tariffs to drag global growth to slowest since pandemic
  • Hundreds of finance officials court Bessent, other White House officials
  • Progress made in talks with Japan, India
  • U.S. companies see significant impact from tariffs
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - Worldwide economic output will slow in the months ahead as U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on virtually all trading partners begin to bite, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday as global finance chiefs swarmed Washington seeking deals with Trump's team to lower the levies.
Indeed, the pace of negotiations was brisk, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, with 18 different countries offering proposals so far and Trump's trade negotiating team set to meet with 34 countries this week to discuss tariffs. After setting a baseline import tax of 10% and much higher on dozens of countries earlier this month, Trump abruptly put the steeper levies on hold for 90 days for countries to try to negotiate less stringent rates.

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The talks blitz is occurring as hundreds of finance and trade delegates arrived for the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group, almost all with the singular mission of inking a deal to ease the hefty tariffs burden Trump has imposed on U.S. goods imports since beginning his second stint in the White House in January.
With tariffs on goods coming into the world's No. 1 economy now at their highest in a century, the IMF projects global growth in 2025 will slow to 2.8% - its poorest showing since the COVID-19 pandemic - from 3.3% in 2024.
And it is not just a pain being visited upon others: U.S. gross domestic product growth ...
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