Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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October 20, 2025 Economic development
Preserving the existing international trading system remains a key challenge if the world is to avoid a devastating tariff war, Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan told the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Monday.
Addressing UNCTAD's 195 member states in Geneva, she stressed that 72 per cent of global trade still takes place within the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"We have so far avoided the chain reaction of tariff escalation that once brought the global economy to its knees—in the 1930s," Greenspan said. "And this happened not by chance, but because of you—because you kept negotiating even when it seemed pointless… and built bridges even when they were crumbling."
A difficult choice
The UNCTAD chief's comments come amid ongoing global economic uncertainty and new announcements of tariffs on US trading partners.
According to Greenspan, rising tariffs, record debt payments and growing mistrust between countries are holding back development.
"The debt and development crises continue to force countries to face impossible choices," she noted. Countries are forced to decide whether to stop paying their debts or undermine their own development.
Tariffs and uncertainty
Earlier, at the UN General Assembly, Greenspan reported that the average level of tariffs imposed by major economies, including the United States, rose this year from 2.8 percent to more than 20 percent.
"Uncertainty is the highest possible tariff," she emphasized. "It discourages investors, slows growth, and makes trade as a path to development much more difficult."
Public debt crisis
Speaking in Geneva, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock warned that developing country debt reached $31 trillion last year.
"Instead of investing in the future of their people – building schools or developing health care systems – many governments are forced to spend precious resources on debt servicing," she said.
Baerbock also noted that trust in the international system is eroding. Despite the global economy being valued at over $100 trillion annually, "half the world's population has seen almost no growth in their income," she added.
Investments are declining
UNCTAD Director Rebecca Greenspan warned that global investment flows have been declining for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, she noted, the current investment system still favors projects in developed countries over developing ones: "As a result, one dollar costs Zambia three times more than it does Zurich."
Greenspan added that freight costs have become too volatile, and that for landlocked countries and small island states, transport costs are three times higher than the global average.
Although artificial intelligence has the potential to increase global GDP by trillions of dollars, less than one-third of developing countries have strategies to capitalize on it, she noted. According to the UN, 2.6 billion people still lack internet access, most of them women in developing countries.
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