REUTERS/China Daily
Shipping containers are seen piled up at a port in Qingdao, Shandong province December 10, 2013.
LONDON - A trade war between China and the US could impact smaller, global countries more severely than either of the two countries at the heart of the trade dispute.
Friday is the deadline for the US to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods and China has promised to retaliate with tariffs of its own if the US does follow through with its threat. China's commerce ministry said on Thursday that the United States is "opening fire on the entire world", warning that Washington's proposed tariffs on Chinese goods will hit international supply chains.
A new model by economists at Pictet Asset Management has produced a list of countries that would be most economically damaged by an escalation in the trade war, Reuters reported.
Countries are ranked by how integrated they are into the global value chain. The countries most at risk are those which supply raw materials to other countries, which then use those raw materials in the production of goods for export. Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Ireland are all vulnerable, according to Pictet.
Here are the top 10 countries most at risk in the event of an all-out global trade war. (The percentages show how much of a country's exports are part of global supply chains):