WTO key to resolving global trade tensions: Italian economist

The global tariff tensions initiated by the United States (U.S.) should be addressed through the multilateral platform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), an Italian economics expert has said.

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Mario Tirelli, a professor of economics at the University of Roma Tre, said on Friday that the current U.S.-led trade disputes have broadened to affect nearly the entire world, including the European Union (EU), and are causing heightened uncertainty, something he described as "bad for the EU."

"The most important sectors of international trade between the EU and the U.S. are machinery and transportation equipment, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of all EU exports to the U.S. in 2024," Tirelli noted.

These sectors, he added, are among the most severely affected by the newly imposed tariffs.