Trump rhetoric raises spectre of 1930s-style trade war with Asia

Economists say US imposed tariffs would damage Asian growth

US President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to shrink a trade deficit with China through punishing tariffs wouldn’t just hurt the world’s second-biggest economy — it would also damage the rest of Asia.

That’s the increasing view of economists who say the risk of significant Trump-triggered trade tensions could slow growth in the world’s best performing region, which accounts for 67 per cent of America’s goods trade deficit, according to Morgan Stanley.

“Donald Trump’s campaign proposal to impose hefty tariffs on China has raised the spectre of 1930s-style trade wars,” said Priyanka Kishore, lead Asia economist at Oxford Economics in Singapore. “While we attach