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LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) -The latest round of U.S. trade tariffs unveiled on Wednesday will sap yet more vigour from a world economy barely recovered from the post-pandemic inflation surge, weighed down by record debt and unnerved by geopolitical strife. Depending on how President Donald Trump and leaders of other nations proceed now, it may also go down as a turning point for a globalised system that until now had taken for granted the strength and reliability of America, its largest component. "Trump's tariffs carry the risk of destroying the global free trade order the United States itself has spear-headed since the Second World War," said Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute.

Short-term interest-rate futures now reflect about a 70% chance of a Fed rate cut when the U.S central bank meets in June, up from about 60% before the tariffs were announced. Before the announcement the contracts showed traders felt the Fed would deliver a total of three rate cuts by December.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Rising tariffs in the U.S. could feed into more prolonged inflation than might be expected, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said on Wednesday, pushing back on views that prices would only rise on imported goods. "There may be reasons why tariffs have more prolonged effects" than simply causing a one-time jump in the price of imported goods, Kugler said. New tariffs already imposed by President Donald Trump, for example, target intermediate goods like aluminum and steel.

New import taxes imposed or potentially in the offing from the Trump administration could raise the average effective tariff rate on goods coming into the U.S. from the current 2.2% to around 17%, while posing "widespread disruptions" focused on manufacturing industries in Midwestern and Southern states, a new analysis from the Richmond Federal Reserve has concluded. Some working estimates of the result of tariffs President Trump imposed in 2018 and 2019 were a net loss of jobs and output to the U.S. economy, the authors noted, with the current more aggressive set of tariffs risking damage also. "Ultimately, the proposed tariffs may raise input costs, disrupt supply chains and result in higher consumer prices, potentially outweighing any targeted employment gains in protected industries," Richmond Fed economists including bank vice president Sonya Waddell and senior economist Marina Azzimonti wrote.

(Bloomberg) -- Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Trump administration’s looming tariff hikes are set to impose an oil crisis-like shock to the economy that shrinks its productive capacity — boosting both prices and unemployment.Most Read from BloombergMetro-North Is Faster Than Acela on NYC-New Haven Route After Signal UpdatesLondon Clears Final Hurdle for More High-Speed Trains to EuropeWhat Frank Lloyd Wright Learned From the DesertLocal Governments Vie for Fired Federal Work

Job openings data indicate contractors are reluctant to dismiss workers, even as unfilled positions fell year over year.

Trump’s tariffs on EU goods could slash exports by at least €85 billion, hitting autos and pharmaceuticals hardest. Germany, Denmark and Central Europe face sharp fallout, raising recession risks and forcing the ECB to consider rate cuts.View on euronews