The latest round of U.S. trade tariffs unveiled on Wednesday will sap yet more vigor from a world economy barely recovered from the post-pandemic inflation surge, weighed down by record debt and unnerved by geopolitical strife.
Depending on how U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders of other nations proceed now, it may also go down as a turning point for a globalized system that until now had taken for granted the strength and reliability of America, its largest component.
"Trump's tariffs carry the risk of destroying the global free trade order the United States itself has spear-headed since the Second World War," said Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist at Nomura Research Institute.
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