Trade war fears appear to be ramping up almost daily. Initially traders were rather complacent that Trump’s threats were just a hardball negotiating tactic. However, he has more than proved that his intentions are far more serious and damaging; this realisation has struck market sentiment hard.

Global equities are falling sharply today, with indices on both sides of the Atlantic succumbing to losses of over 1%. The fear that is driving the markets here is at what point does this end? How much damage needs to be done to the economies involved and global trade in order for Trump to decide enough. This is a huge uncertainty in this very dangerous game of economic “chicken”, as investors are starting to see US – Sino relations sink past the point of no return. In the absence of any optimistic news over the global trading climate, we can expect the current sell off to intensify over the coming sessions.

Harley-Davidson said on Monday it would move production of motorcycles shipped to the European Union from the United States to its international facilities and forecast the trading bloc's retaliatory tariffs would cost the company $90 million to $100 million a year.

The shift in production is an unintended consequence of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposing tariffs on European steel and aluminum early this month, a move designed to protect U.S. jobs.

In response to the U.S. tariffs, the European Union began charging import duties of 25 percent on a range of U.S. products including big motorcycles like Harley's on June 22.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company said the retaliatory duties would result in an incremental cost of about $2,200 per average motorcycle exported from the United States to the European Union, but it would not raise retail or wholesale prices for its dealers to cover the costs of the tariffs.