By James Alexander, Global Head of Multi Asset at Nikko Asset Management.

Trump imposed $50 billion in tariffs against China with $200 billion still pending and more in the pipeline to effectively cover all imports ($450 billion) from China. So far, China’s heels are firmly dug in, responding in kind against tariffs imposed so far, but a deal with Europe to avert auto tariffs may pose an opportunity to bring negotiators back to the table. All eyes are on China for what’s to come next.

An increasingly assertive US foreign policy and a strengthening dollar have contributed to a global sell-off in emerging markets, with Turkey and Latin America among those suffering the biggest falls. ETFs tracking Turkish equities are down almost 15% over the month, and ETFs linked to Mexico and Latin America are down about 10% and 6% respectively. Flows into EM ETFs have also been pared.

So far this year, ETFs tracking Brazilian equity indices have reflected the country’s sunny summer weather. The Ibovespa, an index representing around 60 highly traded stocks listed on the São Paulo stock exchange and the underlying reference for the Lyxor Brazil (Ibovespa) UCITS ETF (RIOU_LN), is up some 10% year-to-date on the back of an improving economic background.

Deutsche Asset Management (Deutsche AM) has announced the listing of its first set of UCITS-compliant exchange-traded funds on the Mexican Stock Exchange. ETFs are rapidly gaining importance among Latin American institutions. Moreover, they are increasingly seeking UCITS products due to their potential for tax efficiency and access to exposures and features unavailable to other ETF jurisdictions.

An additional four new First Trust ETFs have been approved by the Mexican pension funds investment regulator, La Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (CONSAR), for sale to Mexican pension funds. The latest round of approvals brings the total number of First Trust ETFs now available for sale to Mexican pension funds to eleven.

ETFs that track the performance of Brazil equities are among the top performing ETFs in Europe over the last month. Brazil equity ETFs from Lyxor, iShares, Deutsche Asset Management, HSBC and Amundi are all up over 10% in the month to 25 July 2017.

S&P Dow Jones Indices, in partnership with Sao Paulo-headquartered financial market infrastructure company B3, has launched the S&P/BOVESPA Non-State Owned Enterprises Index, representing the most liquid stocks trading on the Brazilian Stock Exchange that are not controlled, directly or indirectly, by public entities, municipalities or states of the Federal District.

iShares has launched the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF (Bats: AGT). The ETF is designed to provide exposure to Argentina equity and companies with significant exposure to Argentina. The ETF may attract investors looking for a tactical play on whether Argentina will be reclassified from a frontier market to an emerging market following a review by MSCI scheduled for June 2017 – reclassification is expected to trigger as much as $1bn to flow into Argentinian equities.

Brazilian equity ETFs continue to bring investors positive returns despite forecasts of a significant economic upturn having thus far failed to materialize. GDP will grow just 0.5% in 2017, according to a central bank survey, while the IMF recently cut its growth outlook for Brazil to 0.2%. Despite the mediocre figures, the Brazilian Bovespa Index is up more than 7.3% year to date and over 60% in the past 12 months. Investors may gain access to Brazilian equities through an ETF wrapper from providers such as iShares, Amundi, HSBC, Lyxor and Deutsche Asset Management.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of its flagship FTSE4Good Index Series, FTSE Russell has launched the FTSE4Good Emerging Markets Index and FTSE4Good Latin America Index, tracking the performance of firms meeting specific thresholds in relation to ESG practices. Mark Makepeace, CEO, FTSE Russell, commented: “The investment landscape has changed beyond recognition and sustainable investing, climate risk, the transition to a low carbon economy, and ESG integration are now a core focus for our clients”.