Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China suggest he is willing to risk a global trade war. The main thing that could stop him would be a stock market selloff.

The invoking of national security to unravel trade agreements could scramble the international trading system in China’s favor.

Trump’s arrival has added to pre-existing worries. Despite an International Monetary Fund official declaring in October that the battle against inflation was “almost won,” attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month harbored open doubts.