The United States announced a broad schedule of tariffs on imports from most trading partners, with higher rates applied to countries running large bilateral surpluses, in the most significant change to American trade policy in decades.
Equity and bond markets moved sharply in the days that followed and several rates were subsequently paused or renegotiated. Exporters in Asia and Europe redirected shipments and accelerated plans to diversify production.
Economists differed on the eventual inflation effect, but supply chain managers described a durable shift away from the assumption of low, stable and predictable tariff rates that had underpinned three decades of globalisation.
