US President-elect Donald Trump could aggravate a slowdown in world trade which would hurt Britain's economy, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday.

"There is this possibility that the slowdown in the growth in world trade, which we have seen over the past few years, accelerates because of discrete policy initiatives potentially from the world's largest economy," Carney told a news conference to explain the BoE's latest report on Britain's banking sector.

"While that might not directly affect the United Kingdom, if it slows the pace of global growth - and we're an open trading nation, one of the most open nations in the world - it's going to have a knock-on effect through this economy."

"This is more of a slow-burn issue, sand in the gears, headwind for the global economy as opposed to a sharper shock, if any of it were to actually materialise."

Ahead of the November 8 US presidential elections, Trump said China was "killing us" on trade and threatened to hit its exports with high tariffs. Since the election, he has said he will withdraw the United States from a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

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