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This chart shows the countries most at risk from a US trade war with China

Thailand, Taiwan, and Switzerland are among nations that could be damaged by rising protectionism.

  • Global trade tensions continue to escalate, with some fearing a trade war between the US and China.
  • China, Mexico, and Canada are likely to be directly affected by any trade conflict.
  • Other economies would also be hit, with analysts at Citi analyzing potential ripple effects in a recent note.
  • Thailand, Taiwan, and Switzerland are among nations that could be damaged by rising protectionism.

As global trade tensions continue to rise, economists continue to worry about what a full-scale trade war would mean for the global economy and for individual economies around the world.

US President Donald Trump is leading the protectionist surge, and his trade-based aggression so far has been focused largely on China, Mexico, and Canada. On Tuesday, he announced plans for tariffs on roughly $50 billion worth of Chinese products, including raw materials, construction machinery, agricultural equipment, electronics, medical devices, and consumer goods.

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It remains unclear whether the tariffs will ever actually be imposed, but if they are, it would most likely have a major impact on the affected industries that could spill over to other parts of both economies. And the effects of increased import and export costs could even spread to other countries.

Quantifying the exact impacts on a country-by-country basis is difficult, but analysts at Citi have had a go, using individual country data on the percentage of gross domestic product that comes from exports to the US as well as stock market exposure to the US.

You can see the chart below mapping the likely exposure: "The direct economic impact of recently announced tariffs is small. But a further rise in protectionism is a downside risk for growth and upside risk for inflation," a team of Citi analysts led by Robert Buckland wrote.

"Export-oriented (especially to the US) stock markets (Korea, Taiwan) and sectors (Industrials, Autos, Tech) are most exposed."

While Citi has worries about growing trade tensions, it does not believe that a full-scale trade war is likely to materialize.

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"Citi economists' base case remains for moderate tightening of trade and investment rules," the analysts wrote, "not a full blown trade war."

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