THE annual 'Summer Davos' forum, which kicked off in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Tuesday, heard that uncertainties created by the United States' tariff blitz are not only disrupting global supply chains, but also causing investors to delay decisions, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
Entrepreneurs and policymakers attending the meeting heard that the trade war continued to cast a chill over the global economy, with us President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on dozens of countries within weeks.
'Everybody is pausing' due to the uncertainty over US trade policies, which are creating a 'very challenging' situation for global businesses, said Victor Chu Lap-like, chairman and CEO of the Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group, during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum event.
'If you were to build an additional plant today, you can't price your investment because you don't know what the actual pricing will be three or four years down the road,' he said.
'And there are feelings that if you invest in certain countries, you'll get pressure from other governments.'
The trade war threatens to exacerbate a pullback in global investment that was already gaining steam last year, acting as a drag on economic growth.
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11 per cent year on year to US$1.5 trillion in 2024, marking a second consecutive annual decline, according to a recent report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Mr Chu described the impact of tariffs on direct investment as 'a shame', noting that FDI improved capital flow, strengthened governance, enhanced the quality of trade, and fostered global peace.
With the European Union now also locked in a tariff stand-off with the US, Italy's deputy minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Valentino Valentina, warned that the trade war was creating new geopolitical risks.
Mr Valentina said the US did not appear to be using tariffs to compensate for trade imbalances or to offer temporary protection to certain sectors, but rather as 'a sort of source of income in order to compensate for very heavy debt'.
SeaNews Turkey
Entrepreneurs and policymakers attending the meeting heard that the trade war continued to cast a chill over the global economy, with us President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on dozens of countries within weeks.
'Everybody is pausing' due to the uncertainty over US trade policies, which are creating a 'very challenging' situation for global businesses, said Victor Chu Lap-like, chairman and CEO of the Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group, during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum event.
'If you were to build an additional plant today, you can't price your investment because you don't know what the actual pricing will be three or four years down the road,' he said.
'And there are feelings that if you invest in certain countries, you'll get pressure from other governments.'
The trade war threatens to exacerbate a pullback in global investment that was already gaining steam last year, acting as a drag on economic growth.
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11 per cent year on year to US$1.5 trillion in 2024, marking a second consecutive annual decline, according to a recent report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Mr Chu described the impact of tariffs on direct investment as 'a shame', noting that FDI improved capital flow, strengthened governance, enhanced the quality of trade, and fostered global peace.
With the European Union now also locked in a tariff stand-off with the US, Italy's deputy minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Valentino Valentina, warned that the trade war was creating new geopolitical risks.
Mr Valentina said the US did not appear to be using tariffs to compensate for trade imbalances or to offer temporary protection to certain sectors, but rather as 'a sort of source of income in order to compensate for very heavy debt'.
SeaNews Turkey