China responded with a list of some 128 US products which could face new and additional duties.

The Trump administration’s reinvigorated protectionist agenda brings trade conflict back to the fore but global supply chains are more complicated since the proliferation of globalization.

PMIs have rebounded strongly from the lows of 2016 and do not signal recession by any stretch of the imagination but it appears that the current phase may begin to lose some momentum.

Adding fuel to the fire was the reigniting of a global trade war as Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports while the EU and China reacted with threats of retaliation.