Economists are still trying to get a handle on how much harm the US tariffs will do around the world. In Europe, the main takeaway so far is that the fledgling economic recovery is at serious risk from the hit to exports and the uncertainty faced by companies and households. The European Union faces levies of 20% following President Donald Trump’s announcements on Wednesday, while the UK is getting a 10% duty and Switzerland a 31% US import tax. Read more: Trump’s Tariff Broadside Sends Shockwaves Across Global Economy Bloomberg Economics estimates in a preliminary analysis that these measures could halve EU exports to the US in the medium term and put more than 1% of economic output at risk. Other analysts are also lowering their expectations for the region. ING thinks that including the impact on confidence, the euro zone will continue to grow only at a “snail’s pace.” JPMorgan says the risks to their outlook for the bloc are “materially downwards” and Morgan Stanley sees the eventual hit closer to the upper range of its latest estimates. Read more: France Eyes US Big Tech in EU Retaliation to Trump’s Tariffs What stands in the way of a more concrete assessment is that much remains unclear. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed countermeasures early on Thursday, without specifying what they could look like. Negotiations with the US are also possible. All of that means it’s especially difficult to predict what the tariffs will do to euro-zone inflation, keeping the outcome of the next European Central Bank meeting on April 17 open. While investors moved to price a greater probability of an interest-rate cut, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel sounded more cautious. His Greek colleague Yannis Stournaras, on the other hand, said inflation will continue to slow and that the tariffs don’t stand in the way of another reduction in borrowing costs. Read more: Trump’s Swiss Tariffs Higher Than Expected, SNB’s Tschudin Says For the Swiss National Bank, the challenge is that the nation’s currency could further appreciate due to trade uncertainty and exacerbate the downward pressure on prices from slower economic growth. Oddo BHF economists reckon that could lead the central bank to cut rates to 0% or even negative territory more quickly. —Alexander Weber in Frankfurt Bloomberg’s tariff tracker follows all the twists and turns of global trade wars. Click here for more of Bloomberg.com’s most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping. |