Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged global leaders to form an “economic coalition of the willing” to respond to Donald Trump’s new wave of protectionist tariffs, warning the world risks tipping into recession without immediate, coordinated action.
Brown, who played a central role in the 2008 global financial crisis response, proposed an ambitious framework of joint economic measures including interest rate reductions, expanded credit for businesses, and mobilising institutions like the IMF and World Bank to support vulnerable economies.
“We are seeing a simultaneous breakdown in economic and geopolitical orders,” Brown wrote. “We need an economic coalition of the willing: like-minded global leaders who believe that, in an interdependent world, we have to coordinate economic policies across continents if we are to safeguard jobs and living standards.”
His comments follow China’s dramatic escalation of trade tensions with the U.S., announcing sweeping 84% tariffs on American imports, sending global markets into decline. With Trump’s tariffs triggering fears of a full-blown trade war, Labour leader Keir Starmer warned this week that the chance of lifting new barriers with the U.S. was looking bleak.
Brown pulled no punches in his critique of Trump, saying the “world is being brought to its knees by one economy, outside which live 96% of the population, who produce 84% of the world’s manufactured goods.”
He urged a return to the playbook of 2009, advocating for extended credit to importers and exporters, a coordinated cut in global interest rates, and renewed fiscal stimulus to counteract shrinking consumer confidence and investment.
But Brown also called on leaders not to overlook China’s growing role in global trade imbalances. He urged Beijing to pivot from overproduction and export-dependency toward boosting domestic consumption.
On the UK’s future, Brown argued that the crisis represents a pivotal moment to renew and deepen economic ties with Europe. He said Britain should aim for “collaboration that is even more extensive than removing post-Brexit trade barriers”, proposing a joint EU-UK initiative including a “Europe-wide, off-balance-sheet, special-purpose defence and security fund.”
With economic and political uncertainty rising, Brown’s intervention adds fresh urgency to calls for global cooperation. Whether world leaders, particularly in Washington and Beijing, will heed the call remains to be seen.
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