UN Conference on Trade and Development urges US to reconsider duties amid rising global tensions

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called on the United States to reassess its recently imposed import duties, warning that the global trading system is at a critical juncture.

According to a statement issued by the UNCTAD, the escalation of trade tensions threatens global growth, investment, and progress, particularly for the world’s most vulnerable economies, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

UNCTAD experts expressed concern that the new tariffs, imposed by Washington, could exacerbate the already precarious economic conditions facing low-income countries. These nations are already grappling with unsustainable debt, slowing domestic growth, and a worsening external environment. The global trade dynamics, they argued, are further endangering these countries’ development prospects, potentially pushing them into even deeper economic distress.

The UNCTAD statement emphasized that nearly 90 per cent of the US trade deficit is concentrated in just 10 of the nearly 200 countries it trades with. However, it noted that the countries bearing the brunt of the US tariffs are disproportionately those with minimal impact on the overall deficit. The least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS), for instance, account for only 1.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent of the trade deficit, respectively.

The UN body highlighted that the US measures against these vulnerable nations will not achieve the desired economic outcomes. According to the statement, the tariffs will neither help Washington reduce its trade deficit nor generate substantial revenue. On the contrary, they could exacerbate the economic hardship in these regions, undermining global efforts to reduce poverty and stimulate sustainable growth.

In light of these concerns, UNCTAD urged world leaders, particularly those in the United States, to urgently reconsider the duties imposed on the most vulnerable countries. The organization’s experts stressed that while large-scale tariffs may have more significant effects on larger trading partners, they have minimal impact on balancing the US trade deficit or strengthening its economy.

By Vafa Guliyeva