The spring meetings of the two leading international financial institutions come after the Trump administration recently announced additional tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and threatened to impose broad tariffs against Chinese imports.

These unilateral protectionist measures have sparked widespread criticism and provoked threats of retaliation from major trading partners, raising the prospect of escalating global trade conflicts that threaten the global recovery.

"The prospect of trade restrictions and counter-restrictions threatens to undermine confidence and derail global growth prematurely," Maurice Obstfeld, economic counsellor and director of research at the IMF, warned Tuesday.

"That major economies are flirting with trade war at a time widespread economic expansion may seem paradoxical -- especially when the expansion is so reliant on investment and trade," he said.

Obstfeld called for "dependable and fair dispute resolution" within a strong rule-based multilateral framework to address intellectual property concerns and other "inequitable trade practices."

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