Business confidence, trade flows and economic activity have continued to lose momentum in most of the major economies. Now that the impact of the 2018 fiscal stimulus has started to fade, the US is not immune to those trends.
The trade tensions that sprang up more than a year ago remain unresolved, despite the June ‘truce’ between China and the US that prevented an immediate tariff escalation. Geopolitical tensions, especially in the Middle East, are adding to a climate of uncertainty that weighs on business investment decisions globally.