Trump muddies the trade waters again

JUST WHEN THE global markets were coming to terms with Trump's disruptive trade policies, the US President announced his plan to impose reciprocal tariffs on countries, instead of a blanket tariff.

- VK SHARMA

This has further muddied the trade waters and increased volatility in markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed the week down by 0.5%, 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Trump is skating on thin ice here as one can't predict what will be the outcome of these yet-to-be-announced trade tariffs. Countries impacted could announce retaliatory measures, either by design or by sheer miscalculation, leading to the possibility of a trade war. China, for instance, has slapped similar duties on US imports.

However, sanity would prevail in the longer run as countries are proactively taking steps to reduce duties on imports from the US.