World Bulletin / News Desk

More than 1,100 US economists signed a letter sent to President Donald Trump and to Congress on Thursday urging them to avoid repeating the mistakes that worsened the Depression in the 1930s.

The economic advisors to two Republican and two Democratic presidents and 15 Nobel laureates were among those urging the administration to fend off "a host of new protectionist activity, including threats to withdraw from trade agreements, misguided calls for new tariffs in response to trade imbalances, and the imposition of tariffs."

That letter also featured more than 1,000 economists urging legislators to reject the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, a trade measure widely blamed for deepening and prolonging the global economic crisis.

"Congress did not take economists' advice in 1930 and Americans across the country paid the price," the NTU said. "The undersigned economists and teachers of economics strongly urge you not to repeat that mistake."

The petition comes as a high level delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are in Beijing negotiating a solution to the trade dispute sparked when Trump imposed steep tariffs on aluminum and steel, and on $50 billion in Chinese goods.