Trade war worrisome to retail industry leaders

Although U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in July – spurring hopes that a rally could continue into the third quarter – some industry leaders remained worried about potential side effects of a global trade war.

“One thing we worry that could take away from this bullish economy is the idea of global tariffs and this escalating trade war,” Brian Dodge, the senior executive vice president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said on Wednesday during an interview with FOX Business’ Ashley Webster.

According to the Commerce Department, retail sales increased 0.5 percent last month, compared to a forecast by analysts of 0.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. Since last year, retail sales have jumped by 6.4 percent.

“We’re seeing exactly the kind of momentum that we would hope to see going into the second half of the year,” Dodge told FOX Business’ Ashley Webster. “We’ve got a strong economy, consumers are feeling comfortable, they’re opening up their wallets, as we hoped that they would do.”

But an escalating, back-and-forth tariff fight between the U.S. and a number of its economic counterparts could threaten that, according to Dodge.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail trade association, has also issued a statement condemning the trade war, and warning that the tariff threat to the U.S. economy was less a question of “if, and more about when and how bad.” Already, the White House has imposed a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods containing “industrially significant technologies.” The Trump administration is also weighing an additional round on $200 billion of Chinese goods. In response, China slapped tariffs on $34 billion worth of American goods, and said it’s poised to impose another round on $60 billion worth of imports.

“We’ve seen some impact from the tariffs that have gone into place up to this point,” Dodge said. “But we’re seeing a rapid escalation as we get deeper into this process. We’re closely engaged in this, as are our members, and watching it very carefully and trying to discourage any further escalation.”