As Mexico and Canada hit back, China pulls punches on Trump’s tariffs

Investors are rattled at the prospects of a full-blown trade war breaking out,

said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, ... adding they

This weekend's actions challenge our underlying view that the Trump administration will strive to limit disruptive policies as it balances its desire to reduce engagement with the world with a commitment to support US businesses,

Kasman said

Beyond the rising cost of moving goods across borders, it will disrupt established supply-chains and depress North American business sentiment,

Bruce Kasman, chief economist for J.P.Morgan, said in a note

Joining the WTO was challenging for China, as it involved a host of economic reforms and significant cuts in tariff rates,

Elms told Al Jazeera

There is no rush for an economic superpower to let itself be easily provoked,

Holz told Al Jazeera

Not necessarily because their broader objectives align but because both operate in a world where political and economic leverage are constantly recalibrated, where tariffs are as much about signalling power as they are about shifting trade balances – and where the broader geopolitical climate often dictates short-term economic moves far more than any conventional trade logic would suggest,

Chaisse told Al Jazeera

The lower tariff rate on China compared to the sweeping 2 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico suggests a strategic rather than purely economic calculation,

he said

Clearly the 10% tariff hike came in quickly and lower, but there remains a lot of uncertainty on the timing and scale of additional tariffs on China,

Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS Investment Bank told CNBC on Monday

We are not revising our 2025 baseline forecast of 4.0% GDP growth for China,

she said, factoring in additional U.S. tariffs of 60% on a quarter of China's exports and greater policy support from Beijing

Higher tariffs are inflationary and likely to lead to higher mortgage rates for longer, but how much higher and how much longer depends on a slew of details,

Chen Zhao, who leads the economics team at real estate brokerage Redfin, wrote in a report released on Sunday

Estimates vary and depend on the specifics of the policy, but the U.S. economy has already been gradually weakening under the strain of high interest rates,

Zhao wrote

A substantial portion of U.S. building materials are imported from Canada,

Zhao said

Trump's policies that aim to stimulate economic growth could cause inflation to increase, leading to higher mortgage rates—potentially offsetting some of the advantages of increased income."

Cynthia Seifert, founder of real estate seller leads generator KeyLeads, previously told Newsweek

President Trump will deliver on his promise to Make Housing Affordable Again by defeating historic inflation and reducing mortgage rates."

Taylor Rogers, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance team, previously told Newsweek in a statement

Housing demand would weaken if there is significant labor market deterioration,

she wrote

Additionally, policies on migration and border control play a role. A portion of the construction workforce, especially in the South and Southeast, consists of undocumented immigrants. If stricter immigration policies are enforced, this could lead to a construction labor shortage, further complicating housing affordability."

He said

President Trump will ban mortgages for illegal immigrants who drive up the price of housing, eliminate federal regulations driving up housing costs, open portions of federal land with ultra-low taxes and regulations for large-scale housing construction. The cost of new homes will be cut in half, and President Trump will end the housing affordability crisis."

She said

Breaking global trade may seem like the thing to do to resurrect the US industrial economy, a noble ambition, but, break trade and you disrupt global capital flows necessary to finance the US budget deficit,

an analyst at GlobalData.TS Lombard wrote in a note

This wasn't a shock - it's been telegraphed for weeks - but investors will still feel the jolt as markets adjust to a move almost universally seen as damaging to global growth and financial stability,

said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management

We suspect the path of least resistance for now is for Asian currencies and risk assets to weaken, together with a greater risk premia to account for future meaningful tariff moves beyond what we have seen,

said Michael Wan at MUFG