Trump's levies challenge global commerce regime

Strong position

However, former People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan has said Trump's actions could drive investors to the yuan.

"If the US uses too many financial sanctions against the other country, it drives (investors) to consider the other currency," he told CNBC.

Zhou has also said that Beijing is in a strong position to withstand any trade war, even if Trump imposes tariffs on all $506 billion of imports from China.

He said in another interview with CNBC: "We used a mathematical model to calculate the negative impact of the trade war. It is not very large, it is not significant. It is less than half a percent (of an) impact to the Chinese economy.

"The worst case scenario is that China is no longer going to export $500 billion of goods to the US market, and then it's dependent on how quickly you can diversify those export goods to the other countries. Actually, I think China could act quickly."

The prospect of a trade war between the US and China also has repercussions for Europe.

Herman Van Rompuy, former president of the European Council and prime minister of Belgium, told a meeting in Brussels of the Belgian think tank Bruegel on Sept 17 it was important that trade disputes were settled peacefully.

"There is no life without compromise, even in every political system. The (European) Union is, more than others, a living example of a continuous conversation between 28 member states.

"Ending disputes, also trade disputes, ending conflicts, wars can only be achieved by negotiation and talks."

Cheng, the Hong Kong businessman, is clear that the biggest losers are likely to be consumers in the US.

"If you go into Walmart or Costco today, a large percentage of the products will be made in China, so consumers will undoubtedly be hit," he said.

"You will also be hitting the US companies who make these products in China. If you are making large volumes, you can't switch production away from China because nowhere else has the same scale of manufacturing capability."