Donald Trump tweeted earlier last week that the US has “the best financial numbers on the Planet”.
That’s not quite the case and it should be said that these first estimates of economic growth are based on skimpy data. However, last Friday’s economic data showing 2.2% growth is certainly good, and the president can take some of the credit.
His large package of tax cuts has boosted growth. Perversely, so did the threat of various trade rows. Just before Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs against the US started at the beginning of July, US soybean exports to China skyrocketed.
This is the first time since the 2016 election that US growth has hit the 4% target President Trump set himself during the campaign.
The latest growth number is twice what it was in the first quarter. But economists warn it’s unlikely to last.
There are worries that America’s numerous trade spats are now hitting economic growth. So what helped the economy in the first half of the year may well hurt it in the second half.
It is unclear what this data means for the rest of the World’s economies and the impact on our own growth progress.
You can read the full BBC Business News article here
