The more U.S. President Donald Trump threatens tariffs on U.S. trading partners, the more the worry of another inflation wave troubles global economists.
Stubborn growth in consumer prices was bothering much of the world even before Trump entered the White House. With this week’s measures against China offering the first concrete evidence that he isn’t just jawboning, prospects for at least some escalation and countermeasures elsewhere are forcing analysts to question how far global disinflation can hold.
"Tariff wars are inflationary, that’s not up for debate,” said Carsten Brzeski, ING’s global head of macro research. "In many places, they add to lingering effects from the past inflation shock, as well as big structural challenges” like aging societies and climate change, he said. "There are currently only very few reasons to expect inflation to remain permanently low.”
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