Trump's upcoming presidency comes with great uncertainty for global markets, considering his economic policies, which are widely viewed as extreme. He is expected to ramp up America's trade war with China—the world’s second-largest economy and the largest source of US imports.
He has repeatedly floated the idea of slapping a 60% tariff on Chinese imports—picking up on policies he started during his first term as president eight years ago. Last year, the US managed to narrow its trade deficit with China to its lowest level since 2010. Imports from China fell by more than $100bn compared to the previous year.
According to the US Census Bureau, the deficit with China decreased by more than 25% to $279bn in 2023, as tensions between the two superpowers have remained high. Amid those tensions, many companies have tried to reduce their dependency on China by diversifying their supply chain or moving final assembly to other Asian countries.
