The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has issued a stark warning over the trade measures recently announced by the Trump administration saying that that worker should not bear the burden of the aggressive policy.

The tariffs, introduced on April 2, mark the onset of a trade war that could cost jobs, increase prices and devastate workers and consumers globally, ITUC said in a statement.

The Confederation expressed deep concern over the reckless trade measures announced by the Trump administration.

The ITUC stresses that workers should not bear the burden of these aggressive policies, calling for international trade to prioritize social justice, fair wages, and workers’ rights.

With the new tariffs threatening job security and escalating costs, the ITUC urged for a multilateral trading system that fosters shared prosperity and safeguards workers’ interests.

The ITUC has long pointed out that insufficiently regulated free trade and corporate profiteering have led to a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions.

However, the US government’s use of tariffs as an aggressive political tool promotes national competition over international solidarity and threatens serious harm to workers in the US and worldwide, the confederation said in its statement.

It said that the announced tariff package would act as yet another regressive tax on working people, raising prices and putting jobs at risk by driving up production costs, and would prevent other countries from developing their economies in a more just way.

‘These tariffs are not part of any serious plan to support working people. The Trump Administration has launched a trade war that will put workers’ jobs and livelihoods at stake. It will also lead to price increases, for which workers and consumers will bear the costs,’ ITUC general secretary Luc Triangle said.

‘With his attacks on workers—from breaking unions to cutting public services and laying off tens of thousands of unionised workers in the US — Donald Trump has shown that his intention is not to create more jobs, but rather advance a billionaire extreme-right agenda,’ Luc Triangle said.

The ITUC will continue to closely monitor the impact of ensuing trade measures and will continue to promote a worker-centred trade model based on the principle of international solidarity, the statement added.