Everyone stands to lose from the Sino-American trade war

US President Donald Trump’s recently initiated trade war with China has divided opinion between those who see it as a potentially industry-damaging misstep, and those who view the Chinese state as an aggressive opponent increasingly willing to rig the global trading system in its favor.

The former camp point to warnings from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other parties interested in promoting the benefits of trade, who say that a tit-for-tat escalation in tariffs and other trade-related punitive measures will end up damaging everyone.

For the pharmaceutical industry, these warnings should be taken seriously. In almost no other industry is there the same level of global cooperation, with multiple aspects of clinical development and commercialization frequently drawing from international collaborations.