Asia Pacific exporters are deeply concerned about a fall in business largely due to an increase in US protectionist measures and their potential for triggering a trade war with Asian countries.

The turnover will decline ten to 20 per cent due to uncertainty over any changes in trade agreements.

The worries come up at a year, 2018, when global GDP growth has been forecast to accelerate to 3.2 per cent – the strongest annual expansion since 2011.

More than half of the suppliers in China are pessimistic about potential export turnover losses due to the introduction of trade barriers such as tariffs or targeted restrictions.

The opinions of Chinese suppliers are shared by those in Indonesia (65 per cent), Taiwan (48 per cent) and Hong Kong (47 per cent). These are all economies with deeply intertwined trade relationships with China.

Suppliers focusing on domestic trade, however, consider the introduction of international trade barriers to be an opportunity for growth.

Despite concerns over the impact of protectionist trends on the Asia Pacific trade outlook, countries in the region are striving to reinforce trade ties with the rest of the world, increasingly turning to Australia for economic and trade cooperation.

This may explain why most Australian suppliers do not expect a negative impact on their businesses’ turnover in the coming months. Japanese suppliers share the same optimistic view.