The World Trade Organization cut its forecast for global trade growth this year by more than a third on Tuesday. The WTO says the cut reflects a slowdown in China and falling levels of imports into the United States.

The new estimate of a 1.7 percent increase was down from the WTO's April forecast for 2.8 percent growth. The cut marks the first time in 15 years that international commerce was expected to lag growth of the global economy.

The WTO said that trade will grow only 80 percent as fast as the global economy this year. That's the first reversal of globalisation since 2001 and only the second since 1982. The WTO also said it anticipates slower trade growth in 2017 than its previous forecast indicated. The WTO is expecting a rise of 1.8 to 3.1 percent rather than the 3.6 percent it had estimated in April.