IRAN WAR POSES NEW RISK TO US ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

A US economy that has weathered a year of trade, immigration and other shocks now faces a new test likely to ratchet up uncertainty after President Donald Trump’s decision to launch open-ended attacks against Iran with the stated goal of toppling the Middle Eastern country’s long-ruling Islamist government.

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Shipping containers are stacked up at the port of Oakland, in Oakland, California, US, February 24, 2026. — Reuters photo

(Reuters)

With counter-strikes underway throughout the region and Trump saying the conflict could go on for weeks at least, analysts are focused on a long list of imponderables as oil prices jumped over the weekend from $70 to nearly $80 a barrel before slipping back somewhat and shipping through the strategic oil lanes in the Strait of Hormuz began grinding down.

Though the US is more buffered from energy shocks than many other developed countries because of domestic oil and gas production, the global impact on trade, prices and investment could spill back and undermine what had been a developing bullish growth outlook for this year.