Not just tariffs, Donald Trump also uses uncertainty as a trade war weapon

Trump's stated intention has been to use uncertainty as yet another disincentive for companies to invest outside the US and to destabilize the economies of the countries he is negotiating with

President Donald Trump has used tariffs as one of his most powerful tools for fighting his trade wars, but he’s also wielding leverage with another weapon: uncertainty.

Through his trade threats and the doubts he has raised about the future of even America’s longest-term economic relationships, Trump has created what could easily be called an uncertainty economy. And it is one that has baffled leading economists.

“I can’t think of when we’ve seen this approach before,” Maurice Obstfeld, the International Monetary Fund’s outgoing chief economist, said in an interview.

The dominant view has long been that uncertainty is bad for growth, impedes investment