The decision by the Trump administration to put tariffs on imports from China has sent share prices tumbling across the world, as fears over a trade war have risen. A global trade war would have serious, negative consequences for the global economy, but this remains an outside risk in our opinion. It remains to be seen how China will react to the US President’s move, but there are several reasons that we do not anticipate a sharp decline in global trade in response to the announced tariffs. Refresh the chart in your browser | Edit chart in Datastream First, China’s response has