London — World shares slipped for the second consecutive day and the dollar held near one-week lows after US President Donald Trump’s threats to slap $60bn in tariffs on Chinese imports reminded investors of the threat to world economic growth. Equity markets were attempting to recover after Tuesday’s hefty losses, heartened by robust Chinese factory data, but struggled to overcome the fear of a global trade war as well as the prospect of political uncertainty in the US. "As long as the threat of protectionism and a trade war remains, markets will remain vigilant," Rabobank analysts told clients. The tariffs, reportedly targeting Chinese tech, electronics and telecoms, were revealed by sources hours after Trump abruptly fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Tillerson’s exit follows that of economic adviser Gary Cohn, a strong free trade proponent. Since Trump took office in 2017 as many as 35 senior officials from his administration have walked out, including Tillerson, according ...
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