Don't let EU, Japan deals lull you into a sense of security, says Trump's former commerce secretary—a trade war with China may still be in the cards

Wilbur Ross, former US commerce secretary, during the Greenwich Economic Forum in 2023. (Credit: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg - Getty Images)

• Former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned that despite recent trade deals with the EU and Japan, a renewed U.S.-China trade war remains possible when a tariff pause expires in August. In an interview with Fortune, Ross said Beijing is politically unlikely to concede ahead of a key leadership event, raising the risk of renewed tariffs and market volatility.

Global markets breathed a sigh of relief after the U.S. struck trade deals with the EU and Japan. After all, agreements made with key partners is a far better outcome than many feared on Liberation Day back in April. So between these deals, and Trump’s habit for backing out of threats at the last minute (leading to the so-called TACO trade) one might wonder: Is the worst of the tariff-related volatility behind us?