How to Invest during a Trade War
There may be little investors can do to mitigate the effects of trade wars between the U.S. and Canada, the EU and China except to exercise caution and wait it out, experts say.
[...]
Exercise caution with multinational corporations. Perhaps the most directly impacted securities will be the companies that both import and export to trade war countries, Lee says. That means tariffs on both sides of the transaction, as is the case with Boeing Co. (BA) and Apple (APPL), which imports and exports to China.
President Donald Trump's tariffs on European-produced steel and aluminum, and proposed tariffs on European cars has resulted in a reciprocal trade tariffs worth about $7.1 billion to hit the U.S., which will affect many more companies that do business even in just a part of the EU, says Daniel Wachtel, founding partner of Harbour Capital Partners in New York.
"In the geopolitical arena, there are no cost-free moves," says Matt Thomas, a partner in the international trade group at law firm Blank Rome. "Global economic stability could see significant operational changes moving forward."
"How to Invest during a Trade War," by Kayleigh Kulp was published in U.S. News & World Report on August 28, 2018.