IMF says trade flows may rebound fast, first in U.S.

Trade volumes may rebound "quite quickly" when the global economy recovers, and U.S. exports are likely to rise first and buoy worldwide flows, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

"Trade can start up quite quickly, as quickly as growth, once the recovery starts in developed countries," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told an aid-for-trade meeting.

Countries need to be ready to take advantage of an eventual renewed appetite for export products, he said at a conferemce in Geneva. "Trade policies need to be already developed."