Trump’s senseless tariffs will extend the economic malaise felt by so many in Australia – and around the world | Nicki Hutley

We are about to get a painful global lesson in why we should listen to, rather than denigrate, experts. No one wins a trade war

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Earlier this month, outgoing Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau called US president Donald Trump's tariffs very dumb". Given the large hit to share markets this week in response to the escalating prospect of all-out trade wars and recession, some might say Trudeau's comment was an understatement.

Because the truth is, while much of the early economic analysis of the potential impact of tariffs has focused on country-level inflation and growth, the story is much more complicated, and the ripple effects are already travelling far and wide.