Emerging markets are extremely dependent upon the United States to purchase their products and services. Despite China being a global exporter, the proposed U.S. trade barriers will significantly increase China's cost overall. Trump mentioned implementing 45% tariffs on Chinese imports and 35% tariffs on U.S. firms that outsource to China.

Barings Bank director of emerging markets believes this could lead to a trade war, saying "The global supply chain, which is highly interconnected in the IT and automotive industries, would also suffer greatly and is already facing disruption after the Brexit vote in the UK. At this point we should note that trade policy can be changed by executive order -- an intransigent Congress may not be able to intervene. If we do find ourselves in a trade war, Chinese authorities would likely act to stimulate demand, but the Chinese equity market, which has performed well in recent months, could become increasingly volatile."