MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- The new tariffs imposed on China overnight by President Donald Trump could be especially bad news for Tennessee.
A report released earlier this week shows the state’s exports already down dramatically before the new tariffs were imposed.
Early Friday morning the president raised tariffs an additional 15 percent on $200 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports. The Chinese government says it will retaliate.
The Business and Economic Research Center at Middle Tennessee State reports Tennessee exports fell by a whopping $500 million in the final quarter of 2018. The report says that's the largest such drop in recent memory.
Reporter author and MTSU Economist Steven Livingston blames the drop on a strong dollar, weak global growth, supply chain problems, and the current trade war.
