The week trade wars went from uncomfortable to scary

By Brendan MurrayIt’s been a week of trade pain that changes a lot about the global economic outlook.President Donald Trump’s threat Thursday to put 10 per cent tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese imports that aren’t subject to his existing levies sent markets tumbling from Asia to Europe and in the US on Friday. The new tax would hit American consumers, and businesses are going to face even more supply disruptions. China has already vowed to retaliate if Trump follows through.Bloomberg Economics’ initial estimate of the additional costs of US tariffs and Chinese retaliation sees both economies taking a 0.2 per cent hit to GDP by 2021.Meanwhile, a simmering trade fight between Japan and South Korea is boiling over, putting the health of two Asian export powers at stake. In Europe, concerns are mounting for a hard UK exit from the European Union.70508129 The week ended with fresh numbers out of Washington that show US trade actually declined during the first six months of the year as exports flattened out.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2yyt8pN