Cazenove's Mui: The trade nightmare before Christmas

An 'America First' stance on trade will be a key part of President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign and he is confident the US has the upper hand in a trade war with China.  In reality, there is increasing evidence that trade tensions are harming the US economy - and not just temporarily. For the first time in three years, the ISM manufacturing index, a closely watched measure of US industrial activity, fell into contractionary territory in August.  Weakness was apparent across the board, with new export orders, production and employment all falling sharply. In particular, ...