US will not exit WTO: Trump

President Donald Trump said he doesn’t plan to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation, while adding the US needs to be treated more fairly by the global body.

The US won’t exit the Geneva-based organisation “at this point,” Trump said.

Axios news agency reported earlier in the day that Trump had repeatedly told top White House officials he wants to exit the WTO. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index and US futures both wobbled following the story’s publication before recovering. Earlier Friday, White House officials sought to ease concerns over the report, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin calling it an “exaggeration”.

Trump spoke about the WTO aboard Air Force One en route to Bedminster, New Jersey.

The remarks cap a month when global tensions surged after America’s major trading partners retaliated against US tariffs by imposing restrictions of their own.

In the latest escalation of the global trade spat, Canada on Friday said it would levy duties on C$16.6 billion ($12.6 billion) of American goods in response to American tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. US tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods are set to take effect on July 6 and a further $16 billion could follow. China has vowed in-kind retaliation.

Trump has said his tariffs are designed to protect domestic industries that have been hammered by an unfair global trading system.