Trump's Tariffs Spark Global Economic Uncertainty, Experts Warn

President Donald Trump's tariffs against the rest of the world became higher than expected, say two experts who TT has spoken to. I think it became a bit worse than what the market had counted on, says Mattias Persson, chief economist at Swedbank.

» Published: April 02 2025

Trump's Tariffs Spark Global Economic Uncertainty, Experts Warn
Photo: Lisa Arfwidson/SvD/TT

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Maria Landeborn, senior strategist at Danske Bank, is on the same line.

There has been speculation about whether it would be individual tariffs or one and the same for all countries. Now the tariffs for many countries are higher than expected and you can see it in the reactions, she says.

When it comes to the impact of the new tariffs on the Swedish economy, the direct effect is relatively small, according to Maria Landeborn.

About nine percent of Swedish exports go to the USA, but almost half of that is services that are not covered by the tariffs. We are not one of the countries that are hit the hardest, the message is much tougher for example for Germany, she says and continues:

The indirect effects can be more difficult. If all these tariffs come into force and remain in place for a period, it will affect the growth of other trading partners negatively.

Spills over

Landeborn believes that the indirect effect of uncertainty will dampen the economy generally in the world, and it spills over to Sweden.

And it's actually worse than us getting a twenty percent tariff on the goods we ship to the USA.

She says that they are already discussing within the EU how trade can be strengthened within the union.

The uncertainty that has existed will remain after Wednesday's announcement, according to Mattias Persson. He points out that countries and regions will now respond to the tariffs, which means it will take even more time before you know where everything lands.

Uncertainty is here to stay. This is not something that facilitates higher global growth.

If there's anywhere we'll see inflationary impulses due to this, it's in the USA.

Red stock exchanges

The yields on American government bonds, regardless of maturity, fell after Trump's announcement. The dollar strengthened slightly against the krona and the gold price rose.

The terms ahead of the American stock exchanges on Thursday indicate a decline and Persson believes that the Stockholm stock exchange and the exchanges in Europe will also decline.

We will all lose from this.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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