OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo addresses a news conference in Vienna, Austria, November 7, 2017. Heinz-Peter Bader | Reuters

President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies threaten to slow global economic growth and dampen oil demand, OPEC warned Wednesday. The potential fallout from Trump's recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is one of several headwinds the 14-nation oil cartel identified in its monthly oil market report. The others include rising interest rates and several countries reaching their growth limit. Trump's tariffs have sparked fears of trade wars and a slowdown in international commerce, as countries around the world threaten retaliatory taxes on U.S. goods. According to OPEC, "the most recent trade-related developments may provide challenges to the growth momentum as global trade has been an important factor contributing to the world economy."

The warning comes as OPEC forecasts growth in crude supplies from the United States and other non-OPEC countries will outstrip the increase in global oil demand in 2018. That puts the fragile balance in the oil market at risk of tipping into oversupply and dragging crude prices lower. For more than a year, OPEC has partnered with other producers including Russia to limit output and drain a global glut that devastated oil prices beginning in 2014. But U.S. production has surged to record levels above 10 million barrels a day in recent months, topping the output from OPEC's biggest producer, Saudi Arabia.