Timme Spakman, Economist at ING, explains that as President Trump pulled the trigger on 10% additional tariffs on imports from China last night, the percentage of world trade affected by it all just went up to 2.5%.
Key Quotes
“If the US acts on further tariff threats, this could go up to 4%.”
“The new measures will cover USD 200bn worth of US imports from China, including jet engines, electronics, and fish.”
“We expect the US to impose further tariffs on the remaining imports from China (USD 267 bn) and China to retaliate further.”
“Until today, the percentage of world trade directly affected by the entire US trade war was roughly 1%.”
“Today this gone up to 2.5%, and if the US carries out its threat to impose tariffs on the remainder of its imports from China, this will equal approximately 4% of world trade.”