UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns that "nobody wins in a trade war," his spokesman said on Friday.
Amid widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.
When asked about Guterres' comments on the latest tariff policy of the White House, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said that "in a trade war, nobody wins."
"He said it before, he said it more than a month ago, that in a trade war, nobody wins. Right? Our concern right now is with the most vulnerable countries who are the least equipped to deal with the current situation," the spokesman said.
He noted that the UN Sustainable Development Goals would be impacted "negatively" by a global trade war.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development warned in a statement on Friday that tariffs imposed by the United States will harm vulnerable countries, adding that "the global trade system is entering a critical phase -- threatening growth, investment, and development progress, particularly for the most vulnerable economies," as major economies are set to impose sweeping new tariffs.
Nobody wins in trade war: UN chief warns
Nobody wins in trade war: UN chief warns
Nobody wins in trade war: UN chief warns
Nobody wins in trade war: UN chief warns
A conference on sustainable development opened Thursday in north China's port city Tianjin to further promote industrial development among Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states.
China is to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin this autumn. The China-SCO Conference on Industrial Cooperation for Sustainable Development is one of the activities organized during a promotion event from Wednesday to Friday. It aims to promote cooperation in fields like infrastructure, energy, mining and petrifaction.
Nearly 400 guests, including government officials and enterprises from SCO member states attended the opening session.
"It provides lots of inputs, insights into how to make future preparations for the peoples. That could be approved by the head of the states in what areas we are going to focus for this sustainable development cooperation in the future," said SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan.
The new tariffs levied by the United States on the rest of the world have added urgency to sustainable development, which is crucial as it addresses environmental issues, promotes economic stability and ensures social equity.
"The United States of America will not be the winner. Because other countries, they will create some new platforms on how to develop without this sanction," said Koroteev Kirill, first deputy general manager of China-Belarus Industrial Park Development Company, CJSC.
As the rotating chair of SCO this year, China is hoping to boost cooperation among member states, and promote the building of a closer community with a shared future.
Tianjin hosts SCO conference on investment in sustainable development
