Tariffs cause ‘unprecedented’ disruption to global trade rules, WTO chief says
By Reuters
September 02, 2025
President Donald Trump holds an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (Pool via AP) (AP)
The share of global trade done on WTO terms has fallen to 72 per cent and could fall further, amid the biggest disruption to the international trading system in the past 80 years, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump started imposing higher import tariffs this year on most of the United States’ trading partners, the share of global trade conducted under the WTO’s ‘most favored nation’ (MFN) terms is down from about 80 per cent, WTO data shows. The principle requires WTO members to treat others equally.
“We’re experiencing the largest disruption to global trade rules, unprecedented in the past 80 years,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview at the start of her second term at the helm of the Geneva-based trade watchdog.
“So it’s not surprising that some would question the global trading system... and predictability,” she said, adding: “As long as the majority of trade is taking place on MFN terms, I think we should celebrate that. We’re a long way from 50 per cent.”
Okonjo-Iweala warned that world trade could experience the effects of tariffs “later down the line” into 2026 as the recent surge in global commerce - driven by frontloading of goods during the first half of the year - begins to subside.
This contributed to the WTO raising its global trade growth forecast from 0.2 per cent to 0.9 per cent in August.
“Possibly down the line, we’ll begin to see some other impacts, as the goods in the warehouses are exhausted, and impacts begin to come in, but we’ll see next year. We still anticipate some growth,” she said.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Trump says he’s looking for swift Supreme Court ruling on most tariffs
The share of global trade done on WTO terms has fallen to 72 per cent and could fall further, amid the biggest disruption to the international trading system in the past 80 years, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump started imposing higher import tariffs this year on most of the United States’ trading partners, the share of global trade conducted under the WTO’s ‘most favored nation’ (MFN) terms is down from about 80 per cent, WTO data shows. The principle requires WTO members to treat others equally.
“We’re experiencing the largest disruption to global trade rules, unprecedented in the past 80 years,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview at the start of her second term at the helm of the Geneva-based trade watchdog.
“So it’s not surprising that some would question the global trading system... and predictability,” she said, adding: “As long as the majority of trade is taking place on MFN terms, I think we should celebrate that. We’re a long way from 50 per cent.”
Okonjo-Iweala warned that world trade could experience the effects of tariffs “later down the line” into 2026 as the recent surge in global commerce - driven by frontloading of goods during the first half of the year - begins to subside.
This contributed to the WTO raising its global trade growth forecast from 0.2 per cent to 0.9 per cent in August.
“Possibly down the line, we’ll begin to see some other impacts, as the goods in the warehouses are exhausted, and impacts begin to come in, but we’ll see next year. We still anticipate some growth,” she said.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Trump says he’s looking for swift Supreme Court ruling on most tariffs
By The Associated Press
September 02, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event about the relocation of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump is indicating that he’ll ask the Supreme Court tomorrow to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that found many of his tariffs are illegal.
Trump says he’ll ask the court for an expedited ruling and claims that if the duties are removed, it could be devastating for the United States.
Last Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and his fentanyl-related duties exceeded his powers under the national security statute he used to impose them.
Trump used the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 to hit much of the world with duties, even though the statute does not include the word “tariff” or its synonyms.
The appeals court said that the tariffs could stay in place while the Trump administration takes the case to the Supreme Court.
Trump increased tariffs on Canada to 35 per cent at the start of August, citing fentanyl and retaliatory tariffs as justification for the increase.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump is indicating that he’ll ask the Supreme Court tomorrow to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that found many of his tariffs are illegal.
Trump says he’ll ask the court for an expedited ruling and claims that if the duties are removed, it could be devastating for the United States.
Last Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and his fentanyl-related duties exceeded his powers under the national security statute he used to impose them.
Trump used the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 to hit much of the world with duties, even though the statute does not include the word “tariff” or its synonyms.
The appeals court said that the tariffs could stay in place while the Trump administration takes the case to the Supreme Court.
Trump increased tariffs on Canada to 35 per cent at the start of August, citing fentanyl and retaliatory tariffs as justification for the increase.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
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