The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that CIBC Economics said in a recent bulletin that inflation will initially head higher in a trade war because a weakening loonie will raise the price of goods imported from the U.S., and because of our retaliatory tariffs on goods from south of the border. The Globe's Rob Carrick writes that if we place a 25-per-cent tariff on a washing machine imported from the U.S., then expect retail prices to rise by a comparable amount. CIBC sees the inflation rate in a trade war peaking this year at 2.9 per cent. Price increases would ease from there as a result of a slowing economy where jobs are lost and consumers cut back on spending. This projected rise in inflation does not look like much in comparison to the heights of 2022. However, given how stressed people are about past inflation, it is going to hurt. Many people are stuck with zero-sum personal finances in a long trade war. If you pay more in living costs, you have to spend less, save less or resort to borrowing. Raises and bonuses will be scarcer, and job security will decline. Higher inflation would also work against more declines in the interest rates that affect mortgages, lines of credit and loans.