Little more than 48 hours passed last week between a warning from the IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, that “uncertainty is the new normal” and Donald Trump’s latest tariff onslaught – this time aimed at China.
Markets plunged on Friday after Trump threatened to levy punitive additional tariffs of 100% on Chinese goods in retaliation for Beijing’s blocks on exports of rare earth minerals.
The world’s finance ministers and central bankers will meet in Washington this week for the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
In her curtain-raiser speech for the gathering, Georgieva rightly pointed out the global economy has proved more resilient than some feared at the time of the spring meetings in April, when the world’s policymakers were transfixed by the chaos emanating from the White House.
Part of the reason for that has been “front loading”: Trump’s intention to…
