IMF Dropped Its Leading Chief Economist Candidate Over Criticism of Trump's Tariffs

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) set aside its leading candidate for chief economist, London School of Economics professor Ricardo Reis, after he said publicly that President Donald Trump's trade war would hurt American consumers, the Financial Times reported. The fund had already moved on: it named Silvana Tenreyro, another London School of Economics professor and a former external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, to the post in July, and she took over as the fund's economic counsellor and head of research on August 10, weeks before Reis's spurning was reported. Tenreyro has also argued that tariffs weigh on growth but is regarded as less openly critical of the Trump administration than Reis, Euronews reported. The chief economist directs the fund's flagship forecasts and its published analysis of member countries' policies.

The United States is the fund's largest shareholder and holds the only single-country veto over its major decisions. That structure has always shaped appointments. What is different is the subject matter, because tariffs are a policy the fund's own research staff routinely analyse and the position at issue, now held by Tenreyro, is the one responsible for that analysis.

The episode sits alongside a broader shift the same newspaper described this week, the end of the era in which international economic policy was justified as mutually beneficial. Governments increasingly present trade as a contest with winners and losers, and the institutions built to referee it are being asked to reflect that.

For non-Western governments the practical conclusion is straightforward. If analysis at the multilateral lenders can be adjusted to accommodate the largest shareholder, the value of borrowing there falls relative to alternatives such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank and bilateral Chinese lending.