Global Trade Stumbled Even Before Trump Upped the Ante

(Bloomberg) -- Global trade cooled sharply early in 2018, even before U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up tensions with China and the European Union over tariffs. The latest monthly index from the Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis plunged to minus 0.6 percent in April. The risk of a full-blown trade war has prompted warnings that the world could be pushed into a recession.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fergal O'Brien in Zurich at fobrien@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Lucy Meakin, Andrew Atkinson

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