Negative effects of international trade include lost jobs and greater wage inequality. Lost Jobs. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), located in Washington, D.C., calls job losses the most easily understood negative effect of world trade, but concedes that the impact requires some explanation. In a 2008 issue brief, EPI analyst L. Josh Bivens A look at how a protracted trade war will affect US jobs and the economy. This disconnect between U.S. consumers’ general optimism and the negative impacts of trade restrictions on U.S. businesses can be traced to the macro-labor effects of trade policy. Consumers understand the tariffs will eventually hurt their wallets. Trump's inflammatory rhetoric on trade is, of course, nothing new; it was a hallmark of his campaign and helped him gain popularity in the Rust Belt.Trump's eagerness for a trade war—he reassured supporters earlier this year that trade wars are "good, and easy to win"—does, however, represent a dramatic departure from traditional and current GOP attitudes on trade.