The world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s unless the U.S. rows back on its plans to impose steep tariffs on imports, a senior official at the International Chamber of Commerce warned.

“Our deep concern is that this could be the start of a downward spiral that puts us in 1930s trade-war territory,” said Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary-general of the ICC, which promotes global business and trade. High tariffs on foreign goods imported into the U.S. in that decade contributed to a damaging global recession. The downturn plunged nearly a third of the global workforce into unemployment and slashed production at heavyweight industrial economies Germany and the U.S. by half, according to research from the International Monetary Fund.

The likelihood of a similarly severe blow to the global economy is high, Wilson said in an interview Tuesday. “Right now it’s a coin-flip,” he said. “It comes down to whether the U.S. administration is […]