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Global trade continued to slide in the third quarter, the OECD said, approaching two-year lows as the US-China trade war and Brexit uncertainty took a heavy toll.
Exports from the EU fell 1.8 per cent while imports dropped 0.4 per cent. In the UK, exports slumped 3.3 per cent and imports were 1.6 per cent lower.
The US fared better, with exports falling just 0.2 per cent but imports 0.7 per cent lower.
The raging tariff war between Washington and Beijing has been the biggest factor weighing on international trade in 2019.
The OECD data came as tensions between the US and China flared up again after President Donald Trump signed a bill backing Hong Kong protestors. Beijing vowed retaliation, raising fears that a trade truce could be off the table. [...]
Europe’s other largest economies felt the effect of the trade war in the third quarter, the OECD said.
France suffered slightly more than the UK in the third quarter, with exports dropping 3.6 per cent and imports falling 1.7 per cent.
In Europe’s biggest economy Germany, exports fell 0.4 per cent while imports dropped 1.8 per cent. [...]
IMF International trade statistics: trends in third quarter 2019