Trade war cuts global economic growth outlook: OECD
WASHINGTON - The OECD slashed its annual global growth forecast on Tuesday, warning that US President Donald Trump's tariffs blitz would stifle the world economy -- hitting the United States especially hard.
After 3.3-percent growth last year, the world economy is now expected to expand by a "modest" 2.9 percent in 2025 and 2026, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.
In its previous report in March, the OECD had forecast growth of 3.1 percent for 2025 and 3.0 percent for 2026.
Since then, Trump has launched a wave of tariffs that has rattled financial markets.
"The global outlook is becoming increasingly challenging," said the OECD, an economic policy group of 38 mostly wealthy countries.
It said "substantial increases" in trade barriers, tighter financial conditions, weaker business and consumer confidence, and heightened policy uncertainty will all have "marked adverse effects on growth" if they persist.
The OECD downgraded its 2025 growth forecast for the United States from 2.2 percent to 1.6 percent.
The world's biggest economy is expected to slow further next year to 1.5 percent.
Trump, who has insisted that the tariffs would spark a manufacturing revival and restore a US economic "Golden Age", posted on his Truth Social platform before the OECD report's publication: "Because of Tariffs, our Economy is BOOMING!"
The OECD holds a ministerial meeting in Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday.
US and EU trade negotiators are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of the gathering after Trump threatened to hit the European Union with 50-percent tariffs.
The Group of Seven advanced economies is also holding a meeting focused on trade.
"For everyone, including the United States, the best option is that countries sit down and get an agreement," OECD chief economist Alvaro Pereira said in an interview with AFP.
"Avoiding further trade fragmentation is absolutely key in the next few months and years," Pereira said.
Trump imposed in April a baseline tariff of 10 percent on imports from around the world.
He unveiled higher tariffs on dozens of countries but has paused them until July to allow time for negotiations.
The US president has also imposed 25-percent tariffs on cars and now plans to raise those on steel and aluminium to 50 percent on Wednesday.
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Mail & Guardian
an hour ago
- Mail & Guardian
There is no genocide in South Africa – but there is billionaire disinformation
US President Donald Trump. What unfolded recently in the Oval Office — a meeting between US President Donald Trump, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Elon Musk, Johann Rupert, and DA leader John Steenhuisen — was a shameful display of misinformation, disinformation, elite self-preservation and racial scapegoating. It was a calculated act of fear-mongering and a spectacle of national chauvinism of the US state. Trump's tirade about a genocide against white people, or more specifically white farmers, in South Africa is not only factually wrong, it is morally grotesque. Especially in the context of the real genocide taking place in Gaza and which is being televised live around the world. According to reports by the Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX) champions a pan-African agenda. Race is a social construct, not a biological reality; it is shaped by history, politics and culture rather than rooted in genetics. There is only one race and that is the human race. By referring to a section of the population in South Africa who happen to have a white skin as refugees, especially a section of the population who benefited unfairly under the apartheid regime, is disingenuous at best. One apartheid-era example is job reservation where all white collar work was reserved exclusively for 'whites only'. It also makes a mockery of the plight of human beings fleeing war, conflict and persecution based on their political beliefs, sexual orientation and so forth; fleeing for their lives. Trump's fear-based rhetoric is echoed by US officials such as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are leveraging disinformation to justify racist immigration policies. It also informs the practice of many European countries and others such as Australia, which are embedded in repressive measures taken against people fleeing countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These can only be seen as racially informed policies to keep refugees out, based on a racist trope of 'cultural difference'. Rupert's presence in the White House was a masterclass in elite deflection. He spoke about building homes for his grandchildren while ignoring the millions of children growing up in South Africa's informal settlements, excluded from land and opportunity by the very class Rupert belongs to. Rupert accumulated his wealth through the unfair privilege that he enjoyed simply because of the colour of his skin. So to talk about transformation and redress is to talk about how apartheid's systemic construction of inequality remains a reality. Rupert also referred to undocumented migrants as 'aliens' — a term that reeks of apartheid-era violence, recalling the Aliens Control Act, which dehumanised African workers while Rupert's empire was fattened by the exploitation that was the legal framework of apartheid. Today, that legacy continues. But words such as equality and science are anathema to Trump. It is no surprise that Trump uses false and unsubstantiated information, because it is Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon that are vehicles for the spreading of misinformation and toxic hatred. Big Tech firms increasingly operate above the regulatory grasp of governments. And the more toxic and divisive the information that is shared such as the claim of 'white genocide in South Africa', the more profits these companies make. Those US-based tech corporates own the vast majority of the world's digital nervous system and they use this to spread misinformation, lies and unsubstantiated statements. What we saw in the Oval Office was global apartheid in action. The apartheid of the rich and the poor. The apartheid of the excessively rich. This wealth distribution and inequality is informed by an era of the existence of a global empire shaped by multi-tech companies that have a monopoly and domination of global markets and are economic powerhouses. These multi-tech companies are the ones who have coined the phrase 'precarious work', which has impoverished and stripped the dignity of hundreds of millions of workers. There are serious problems in South Africa, but they are not unique to us. Around the world, and very much including Trump's US, it is the greed, cowardice, corruption and inhumanity of those who hold political power and who hoard wealth and dodge taxes, that drives systemic poverty, unemployment and crime, not the poor and not migrants. The Trump-led US state, like most of the states in the Global North, is choosing to ignore the real global crises — climate refugees, displaced people, economic migrants and the genocide in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians are being killed. Whole neighbourhoods flattened. Hospitals bombed. Journalists assassinated. You don't get to preach about justice and peddle lies about 'white genocide' when you not only ignore but support actual crimes against humanity. We call on every worker, activist, migrant, and citizen to reject the myth of the 'invading alien' and stand firm against the real threat: a global billionaire elite desperate to protect its position and power at any cost. Stand in solidarity with the struggle for equality and justice in the world. Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia is a coalition of organisations united against xenophobia.
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
Trump's false claims: challenging negative narratives with the warmth and beauty of the 'rainbow nation'
US President Donald Trump uses an image taken in Congo as proof of his claims that there is a genocide against Afrikaner farmers in South Africa. Image: AFP Amidst the backdrop of misinformation surrounding South Africa's socio-political landscape, South African Tourism invites the world to experience the country's rich diversity and vibrant culture, challenging negative narratives with the warmth and beauty of the 'Rainbow Nation'. This comes in the wake of a controversial meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump, where unfounded claims regarding genocide against Afrikaner farmers in South Africa were raised. During their meeting last month in the Oval Office, Trump labelled the situation facing Afrikaner farmers as one of 'genocide". However, Ramaphosa denied these claims, asserting that while South Africa faces significant crime challenges, they affect citizens across all racial backgrounds and he asked for assistance to address the high levels of crime. As international scrutiny mounts, a second wave of Afrikaners landed in the US last week under Trump's controversial resettlement programme that will eventually see 8,000 individuals relocating. In 2018, during his first term in office, Trump referred to countries on the African continent as 'shithole countries'. According to reports, in addressing concerns about false narratives affecting South Africa's global image, Michael Delaney, general manager of Radisson RED Johannesburg-Rosebank, cautioned against narratives seeking to make South Africa look bad and argued the importance of highlighting the country's positive attributes. 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'Ours is to continually drive messaging that not only balances whatever the narrative may be in the environment, but to highlight facts from misinformation in all our touchpoints domestically and internationally,' she said. She said Brand SA's nation branding mandate encompasses the promotion of South Africa's image, competitiveness, institutional credibility, and attractiveness for investment, tourism, trade, and skills mobility. 'Brand South Africa is tasked with improving how South Africa is perceived globally. The objective is to position the country as an attractive destination to invest in, visit, work, study, or do business with,' she said. Gumede said as an organisation, Brand SA continuously implements both proactive and reactive strategies through communications, marketing, and stakeholder engagements across the globe to ensure that we influence perceptions about the country. 'We work with and through a broad spectrum of partners and stakeholders, including business, civil society, and government,' she said. Some of the issues that Brand SA has addressed is South Africa's Expropriation Act of 2025 and the legacy of land dispossession among others. Gumede said Brand SA also drives a domestic programme called Play Your Part to get South Africans involved in positive social impact, including those in the diaspora, our very own Global South Africans, and ensure visibility/messaging about South Africa at global platforms like WEF, the recent SA-France investment Forum, and many others. 'According to the 2025 Global Reputation Study conducted by Bloom Consulting and Brand SA, South Africa's global brand equity is on an upward trajectory, with five out of six key dimensions showing improvement: Exports, Investment, Tourism, Work, and Study,' she said. Gumede said taken together, these results affirm the strategic value of Brand South Africa's interventions globally. 'Nearing or exceeding global affinity thresholds in Exports and Investment, and showing resilience across other dimensions, the nation brand is increasingly seen as credible, competitive, and globally connected which is a critical enabler for trade, tourism, and human capital attraction,' she said. Global manager PR and communications for South African Tourism, Thandiwe Mathibela, said South Africa stands ready to welcome travellers from across the globe. 'We invite the world to discover the joy of South Africa - for a memorable, long-lasting experience,' she said. Home to over 60 million people, Mathibela said South Africa celebrates unity in diversity. 'The spirit of ubuntu — shared humanity — defines our national character. South Africa's social fabric is defined by the everyday coexistence of people from diverse backgrounds, reflecting the stability and cohesion that support our broader economic and tourism environment.' In 2024, Mathibela said over 8.5 million international visitors chose South Africa, with continued growth from markets including the US, UK, Germany, China, and the rest of Africa. 'As we prepare to host the G20 Leaders' Summit in November this year, our ability to deliver secure, high-level global events has been reaffirmed,' she said. Mathibela emphasised that safety is a priority, and that the government is actively investing in traveller safety through expanded safety monitor programmes and infrastructure upgrades. 'South Africa continues to invest in quality-assured tourism facilities to ensure high service excellence and seamless sustainable visitor experience.' International relations expert André Thomashausen argued that South Africa should rely on facts and refer to the recently updated "Investigative Report on White Murders in South Africa Since 1992" by the European Centre for Information Policy and Security ( He said this is an unbiased assessment that records 12,567 farm attacks over the past 3 decades and that this cannot be 'wished away.' The report states that in 2019 alone, there were 552 attacks and 57 murders, primarily targeting white farm owners and their families, and although white farmers are disproportionately affected due to their prevalence in commercial farming, farm workers and smallholders of all races are also victims. Robbery is the main motive, with racially or politically motivated attacks being rare. The report recommended improved intelligence, data transparency, crime prevention strategies, and balanced public communication to tackle farm attacks amidst South Africa's complex environment. 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'Hopefully this will reflect in the abolishment of tariffs on both sides and stronger foreign investment support for South Africa.' [email protected]
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The South African
an hour ago
- The South African
‘Kill The Boer' sung by ‘African Americans'?[video]
A viral video showed a group of 'African Americans' singing 'Kill The Boer'. Images via X : @ali_naka/ @effsouthafrica A clip of a group of black people singing Kill The Boer – presumably in the US – has gone viral on social media. Recently sung by Economic Freedom Fighter leader Julius Malema, the anti-Apartheid song has been accused of having 'racist' connotations. Last month, US President Donald Trump publicly condemned the 'call to action'. Pretoria-born billionaire businessman and UK media personality Piers Morgan have also criticised the song. 'KILL THE BOER' SUNG ABROAD On social media, a clip of black people singing along to Kill The Boer has gone viral. In the video, the crowd, many of whom wear traditional African garments, are seen dancing and singing the tune to the anti-struggle song. Although some claim that the people in the video were African Americans, it's unconfirmed if the video was taken in the US. However, a flag representing Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) – an organisarion celebrating black Americans in the US – was spotted in the background. The video has many social media users questioning Julius Malema's influence as far as the US. 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH' According to a 2022 ruling, the Equality Court found that Kill The Boer was not considered hate speech. In March, the Constitutional Court – the highest in South Africa – rejected AfriForum's appeal, stating that the song deserved to be protected under freedom of speech. Julius Malema sings Kill The Boer at a political rally. This comes after US President Donald Trump called for his arrest. Images via X: @effsouthafrica WHO SANG IT FIRST? Kill The Boer – titled Dubul' ibhunu – made headlines when anti-Apartheid activist Peter Mokaba sang the song at a memorial for his assassinated comrade, Peter Mokaba, in 1993. It was also sung by former South African President Jacob Zuma during many ANC events. Over the years, Malema has also sang the controversial song at various EFF political rallies. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON 'KILL THE BOER' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
