SIMIC

Moody's said that US importers absorbed more than 90 per cent of the additional costs caused by the increased US tariffs on Chinese goods.

"A majority of the cost of tariffs have been passed on to US importers," it said, adding "if the tariffs remain in place, pressure on US retailers will likely rise, leading to a greater pass-through to consumer prices."

Meanwhile, US exporters also absorbed a large part of the costs from retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, because some of the exports targeted by the retaliatory tariffs are products that may be sourced from other places, such as agricultural goods, according to Moody's.

Higher trade tariffs were introduced during the previous US administration, and most of them are still in place and affect half of the trade flows between the United States and China, the rating agency said.