China, cars and Congress: Three risks to 2019 trade outlook

Risks to outlook: Container ships from Shanghai unloading at the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles County. Due to the unpredictable nature of the US president, 2019 may see a de-escalation to all-out economic war between China and the United States. — AFP

WASHINGTON: If 2018 was the year that Donald Trump gave the world a new taste of an ancient phenomenon – trade wars – then 2019 is shaping up to be the one in which the combat risks being fiercest.

President Trump is as unpredictable a leader as a major economy has seen in generations. For that reason alone there are myriad scenarios – from de-escalation to all-out economic war between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China – within the realm of the possible.