Nigeria, Feb. 10 -- In the end, the new Trump administration implemented its campaign promise to impose tariffs on its major trading partners: 25 per cent in the first instance on both Mexico and Canada (effective date for which is now put forward for another month, as Canada and Mexico take steps, respectively, to staunch the flow of fentanyl into the United States - the proximate reason for the tariffs); and 10 per cent on China (in addition to existing tariffs imposed by the Biden administration).

The IMF, for one, thinks it is too early to gauge the full impact of these decisions; but one thing is without doubt: The levels of uncertainty in the global economy are up. And to the extent that businesses hold off investing the more uncer...