Trump’s trade war risks splintering the Internet, experts warn

In sparking his global trade war, Donald Trump seems to have maintained a glaring blind spot when it comes to protecting one of America's greatest trade advantages: the export of digital services. Experts have warned that the consequences for Silicon Valley could be far-reaching. In a report released Tuesday, an intelligence firm that tracks global trade risks, Allianz Trade, shared results of a survey of 4,500 firms worldwide, designed "to capture the impact of the escalation of trade tensions." Amid other key findings, the group warned that the US's fixation on the country's trillion-dollar goods deficit risks rocking "the fastest-growing segment of global trade," America's "invisible exports" of financial and digital services. Tracking these exports is challenging, as many services are provided through foreign affiliates, the report noted, but recent estimates "reveal a large digital trade surplus of at least $600 billion for the US, spread across categories like digital advertis ... Read full article.