Nigeria, April 10 -- The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has warned that escalating trade tensions between the United States and China could lead to an 80 per cent collapse in merchandise trade between the two countries and a long-term split in the global economy.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala described the ongoing tariff measures between the world's two largest economies as a severe threat to the global economic outlook, particularly for developing nations.

"The escalating trade tensions between the United States and China pose a significant risk of a sharp contraction in bilateral trade. Our preliminary projections suggest that merchandise trade between these two economies...