Economists hint at potential silver linings in US trade war

US President Donald Trump’s tariff barrage may have unexpected upsides for global commerce, analysts said.

JPMorgan economists said in a note that Washington winning tariff-free access to other markets could open those economies up more broadly: World Trade Organization rules require that a lowering of tariffs under the Most Favored Nation principle be extended to all of a country’s MFN partners.

Though they acknowledged that the benefits are “difficult to gauge,” the economists argued this was nevertheless a “silver lining of the trade deals.”

Reduced access to the US market has also forced major American trading partners to look at removing their own domestic barriers to commerce, a South China Morning Post columnist noted.