Protectionism and trade disputes threaten world growth, says OECD

In its first forecasts since Donald Trump's election, thinktank says jobs will suffer if politicians row back on globalisation

A new wave of protectionism and trade tensions risks denting global growth, stoking inflation and harming living standards, the west's leading economic thinktank has warned in its first in-depth forecasts since Donald Trump won the US election on an anti-globalisation platform.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said it was optimistic that expected spending measures and tax cuts under the new US administration would boost growth there and in other countries. But it said global trade growth was already "exceptionally weak" and jobs would suffer if politicians rolled back the clock on trade liberalisation.

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