By Samson Echenim Ongoing trade war between US and China puts the world at the risk of another global economic meltdown, about just a decade after a preceding global recession from which some countries are yet to show signs of recovery, Globaldata, a firm of analysts and economic researchers have warned. The researchers therefore called for restablishment of faith in fair trade among nations to avoid an imminent global meltdown. According to Globaldata, the US efforts to reduce its trade deficit through tariff measures seems to be less effective, as the deficit continues to grow over the past two years. Read Also: Oil prices slides 3% as U.S.-China trade war escalates Against this backdrop, re-establishing faith in fair trade is the way forward to avoid another global economic recession, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. The GlobalData Risk Index (GCRI) Q2 2019 update indicates a 0.19 petcent increase in global risk in comparison to Q1 2019 update and risks associated to trade uncertainties appear to be one of the major decisive factors in increasing the global risks. Jaison Davis, Economic Research analyst at GlobalData, comments: “When the economic patriotism overshadows the fundamentals of fair trade, the engaging parties are bound to bear the consequences often in the form of demand and price uncertainties, which will have deeper impact on their agricultural, industry and services sectors.” According to the US Census Bureau data, the US trade deficit witnessed a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 8.17 percent from January-July 2018 to January-July 2019, with no signs of slowing down for the rest of the year. While the trade deficit against China has witnessed a decline of $25.44bn (-10.83 percent YoY), the deficits against the European Union (EU), Mexico and Japan witnessed an increase of $8.79bn (9.22 percent), $15.64bn (36.49 percent) and $2.74bn (6.90 percent), respectively during the same period.

Costs of tariff wars

According to a bipartition advocacy group ‘Tariffs Hurt the Heartland’, the tariffs paid by the US rose by 21.43 percent over the previous month and by 240 percent over the previous year in June 2019 on the products subjected to new Trump administration tariffs. The report cited a recent study by the National Foundation for American Policy which indicated that the tariffs in effect and those scheduled to be in effect by the end of 2019 will cost the US households an average of $2,031 per year. Escalating tariff wars also affect the international trade; thereby adversely impacting the global economic growth as the benefits of more or less competitive free-trade washes way. Due to the prevailing trade uncertainties, the International Monetary Fund recently down reviewed its 2019 global economic growth projections to 3.2 percent in July 2019 from its earlier projection of 3.3 percent released in April 2019.

Reinstating faith in fair trade need of hour

  In the US, employment growth and manufacturing activities are slowing down over the past three months. The agricultural sector is also badly hit, forcing the Trump administration to announce an aid of around US$28bn till date since last year. For China, domestic consumption is slowing down and the country is struggling to expand its trade prospects. Similar trends are visible in the EU and across the major global economies. Davis concluded: “Unless faith in fair trade is re-established, uncertainties will deepen the recessionary pressure on global economy in a short span of time, possibly within a year.” Read Also: LADOL’s CEO, Jadesimi urges Nigerian, African government to make AfCFTA mechanism for local industrialisation