The currently ongoing negotiations between the United States and China did not manage to prevent the introduction of another round of tariffs, this time in the amount of 25% on $16 billion of goods, going both ways. The United States keeps introducing new fees on Chinese imports, and China matches the American bid as a consequence. So far there have been reciprocal tariffs on goods which in total are worth about 100 billion USD and analysts expect that we have not seen the last of it.
This new escalation of the conflict led to increased stress on the financial markets. Stocks in particular are very sensitive to trade war fears, so right now they are not doing too well. Because the United States and China are the two biggest economies in the world, their tariffs on each other’s goods are impacting the global economy negatively. It is estimated that the damage would only grow the longer tariffs are in place.