WASHINGTON: The IMF on Wednesday (Feb 25) known as on the US to work with buying and selling companions and discover methods to mutually ease commerce curbs, because it issued a overview of the US economic system.
The Worldwide Financial Fund’s findings coated the primary yr of Donald Trump’s second presidency, during which he unleashed wide-ranging tariffs on allies and opponents alike as he sought to shrink the US commerce deficit and increase home manufacturing.
However his on-again, off-again tariffs have roiled provide chains and monetary markets.
The IMF mentioned on Wednesday that Washington ought to work constructively with companions “to deal with issues over unfair commerce practices and agree on a coordinated discount in commerce restrictions and industrial coverage distortions which have destructive cross-border results”.
“The place commerce and funding measures (together with tariffs and export controls) are put in place for nationwide safety causes, such insurance policies ought to be utilized narrowly,” it urged.
General, the fund tasks US GDP progress to return in at 2.6 per cent in 2026, choosing up from 2.2 per cent final yr.
It additionally flagged “two-sided dangers from tariffs, taxes, and labour market dynamics.”
Broadly talking, the IMF mentioned the US economic system “carried out properly in 2025” within the concluding assertion of its “Article IV” session.
It famous the nation’s “continued robust productiveness progress regardless that the federal government shutdown took a chunk out of exercise within the fourth quarter”.
The IMF final issued US-related coverage recommendations in 2024.
At the moment, it raised concern over rising commerce restrictions underneath then-President Joe Biden’s administration, urging officers to unwind obstacles to free commerce.
The fund in 2024 additionally urged a reversal within the rise in public debt, noting that officers may elevate taxes amongst different reforms.
