Braving The Elements

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Fourth Quarter 2018

Trade tensions further deteriorated as the U.S. slapped tariffs on another $200bn worth of imports of Chinese goods, and threatened to go all the way by taxing all Chinese imports, or a total of $505bn. The dispute with China goes beyond reining in the bilateral trade deficit. The Trump administration is committed to challenging China’s rising economic and technological clout, and national security is now the watchword for most economic initiatives adopted by the administration to maintain U.S. hegemony. The ongoing trade war is morphing into a new cold war, with market access and the tech race replacing defence alliances and the arms race of the cold war period. The U.S.-China spat is unlikely to unwind soon as it is both strategic and ideological. The impact on future global trade flows is set to be profound.