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OTTAWA — A new analysis of escalating trade disputes involving the United States warns that a deterioration into an all-out, global trade war would knock North America’s economies into recession.

The report by Scotiabank said if the U.S. breaks all trade ties with its partners — and imposes across-the-board tariffs that average 20 per cent — then Canada and Mexico would see their economies contract in 2020.

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For Canada, it predicts the economy would shrink 1.8 per cent.

“A ramp-up in protectionism in the U.S. results in a negative impact on growth in each of the NAFTA partners’ economies,” said the report, co-authored by Scotiabank’s Brett House, Juan Manuel Herrera, Rene Lalonde and Nikita Perevalov.

This worst-case scenario is one of several potential outcomes examined by Scotiabank.

Experts have been trying to gauge the economic consequences of the intensifying trade fight between the Trump administration and traditional American allies like Canada.