Today in Global Small Business: The Economic Impact of Tariffs and Global Trade on Business

©iStock/Stanislav Gvozd

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Tariffs and global trade:  the economic impact on business.
• By declaring a trade war on the rest of the world, President Donald Trump has panicked global financial markets, raised the risk of a recession and broken the political and economic alliances that made much of the world stable for business after World War II.  Is it a sign of dominance or weakness?
• South Korean exports show signs of weakness and global trade tensions.
• Quote of the week:  “The benefits of a tariff are visible. Union workers can see they are "protected." The harm which a tariff does is invisible. It's spread widely. There are people that don't have jobs because of tariffs but they don't know it." – Milton Friedman
• U.S. showed signs of weakness even before trade tensions escalated.
• A look at U.S. exports to China 2025.

To Achieve Positive Export and Import Growth, We Must Remain Vigilant

©iStock/frikota

Economic impacts on global trade date back a few years, suggests Anthony Landry, a Wharton adjunct full professor of finance and deputy vice dean of the Wharton MBA program. “Until COVID, I would say that global trade was an efficient way in which companies, especially multinationals, were expanding,” says Landry, who specializes in macroeconomics and has worked as a senior economist and economic policy advisor. 

While the current trade slowdown may threaten the living standards of people around the world, a rebound is expected. Said WTO chief economist Ralph Ossa: “Positive export and import volume growth should resume in 2024, but we must remain vigilant.” 

Read more here.