IMF urges US to cooperate to reduce trade restrictions

New York, February 25th (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a statement on the US Article IV negotiations for 2026 on the 25th, stating that the US should engage in constructive cooperation with its trading partners to eliminate concerns about unfair trade practices and strive to reach consensus on reducing trade restrictions with negative cross-border impacts.

The statement states that when implementing trade and investment measures based on national security reasons, including tariffs and export controls, these policies should be controlled at a relatively narrow level to minimize the negative impact of these measures on domestic and international markets.

The statement states that raising tariffs is a measure that distorts productive resources, disrupts global supply chains, harms the benefits of global trade, and increases costs.

The fourth clause consultation is the IMF's annual routine assessment and evaluation of member countries' economic performance and macroeconomic policies. The International Monetary Fund's 2026 Article IV consultation on the United States focuses on evaluating the shift in US economic policy by 2025, and includes the impact of its policies on the United States, its trading partners, and the global economy.

The US government will begin implementing large-scale tariff policies in early 2025, disrupting the global trade order and causing disruptions to the US export market.