Italian Central Bank Governor Fabio Panetta said the international community must avoid exacerbating existing protectionist sentiment, after the election of Donald Trump raised fears of steep tariffs and trade wars.
On the campaign trail, Trump said he would impose 60% tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods and a tax of about 10% on imports from European countries, raising the prospect of a bleak outlook for the already weak eurozone growth.
World Bank Governor Fabio Panetta said protectionist sentiment was exacerbated by shocks that have weighed on economies, including the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis.
“With the fragmentation of global trade, major countries have become increasingly reluctant to rely on trading partners with whom they lack stable political, economic, or cultural relations,” Panetta stressed at a World Bank Group conference in Rome.
He added that to avoid the world being divided into economic, political and military blocs, it is necessary for the global community to “put aside its differences in order to find common solutions to the interconnected challenges that affect us all.”
