Economics
IMF Warns Rising Trade-War Risk is Weighing on Global Economy
- Study points to big German surplus and deficits in U.S., U.K.
- It says they need an urgent fix, but tariffs aren’t helping
This article is for subscribers only.
The imbalances that lie behind trade tensions are now concentrated in rich countries, and tariffs aren’t doing much to fix them, the International Monetary Fund said.
China, which a decade ago was running the world’s biggest current-account surplus, is now close to balanced trade that’s “in line with the fundamentals,’’ the IMF said in its annual study of how economies interact with each other. The largest surpluses and deficits are now mostly found in developed countries like Germany and the U.S.