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Trade War Drag on World Economy to Fade in 2020, Says Goldman

The recent progress toward a partial trade deal and expectations of an extended truce implies that this drag will disappear.

Trade War Drag on World Economy to Fade in 2020, Says Goldman
The ‘Stella Pearl’ cargo ship sits docked at the Tiplam terminal in Santos, Brazil. (Photographer: Patricia Monteiro/Bloomberg)

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The trade war’s drag on the world’s largest two economies will gradually fade in 2020 as tariffs on imports from China have likely peaked, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The recent progress toward a partial trade deal and expectations of an extended truce implies that this drag will disappear, which will also benefit the global economy, Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius wrote in a note dated Nov. 18. This assumes there is no further escalation of tariffs.

Trade War Drag on World Economy to Fade in 2020, Says Goldman

The trade war is currently subtracting roughly 0.5 percentage point from sequential growth in both the U.S. and China, according to Goldman’s estimates.

China’s economy has been on a gradual downward trajectory, with gross domestic product growth slowing further in the third quarter to 6%. Despite efforts by the government and central bank to stimulate the economy, growth is forecast to continue slowing to below 6% next year.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Lin Zhu in Beijing at lzhu243@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger, Karthikeyan Sundaram

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With assistance from Bloomberg