By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund will evaluate U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s tax and tariff cut policies as details emerge, but it is “too early to speculate” on their potential impacts, it said on Thursday. IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack.
Kozack said in his first regular news conference since Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory that it was still “early days” for his economic plans to take shape. Trump takes office on January 20.
The Republican president-elect has promised to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports to the United States and 10% to 20% tariffs on goods from elsewhere. Trump also wants to extend tax cuts that expire in 2017 and enact new tax breaks, which budget forecasters say could add $7.5 trillion in new debt over 10 years.
“The exact impact of any of these policies will depend largely on the details and that is why we will wait to see the details before making our assessment,” Kozack said.
Concerns among the economies of the IMF’s 191 members about Trump’s return to power dominated the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in October. But IMF officials, including IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, have been cautious about the impact Trump’s plans could have on the global economy and international financial institutions.
Georgieva has long warned against rising trade barriers and the increasing geopolitical fragmentation of the global economy.
On Tuesday, IMF Asia-Pacific Department Director Krishna Srinivasan warned that retaliatory tariffs threaten to disrupt growth prospects across the region. He did not directly mention Trump’s tariff plans, but economists believe the president-elect’s tariff plans are likely to provoke retaliation and increase costs.