Perhaps the most apt saying to apply to the so-called "trade war" between the United States and China is "when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers".
Those who suffer the most from further escalation between the two giants will be the smaller export-dependent countries. The latest US trade policy offensive earlier this month saw President Donald J Trump threatening to impose further tariffs on US$267 billion of imports from China, bringing the amount of Chinese exports that could be subject to higher tariffs to a whopping $517 billion -- nearly the entire value of China's exports to the US.
A number of other tensions rising from the North American Free Trade Agreement and the US-European Union automotive dispute have fanned the flames of trade tensions. Given all these seemingly worsening trade conflicts, what might be the impact on the economy of smaller and relatively open economies that have long relied on trade and investment, such as Thailand?
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