A sell-off in Chinese stocks caused Asian stock markets to fall to a four-month low on Tuesday, a day after United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods, Reuters reported. Last Friday, the president announced 25% import tariffs worth $50 billion (Rs 3.4 lakh crore) on imports from China. The tariff list will target 800 product categories, down from 1,300 previously.
The president made the remark in response to China’s decision to impose retaliatory import duties worth the same amount. “We will meet that action by pursuing additional tariffs on another $200 billion [Rs 13.63 lakh crore] of goods.”
Beijing said the move was “extreme pressure and blackmail” and vowed to hit back with counter measures, Bloomberg reported. “If the US loses its senses and publishes such a list, China will have to take comprehensive quantitative and qualitative measures and retaliate forcefully,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
At 12 pm Indian time, the Nikkei was trading at 22,278.48, down 1.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2.8% at 29,483.09 points. The Taiwan Weighted index was trading at 10,904.19 points, down 1.68%, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index was down 1.66% at 2,337.49 points.
In April, Trump said he had asked trade officials to identify tariffs on an additional $100 billion (Rs 6.8 lakh crore) worth of Chinese imports. His decision was a response to China increasing tariffs on $50 billion worth of American goods, including aircraft and automobiles. Beijing’s move, on the other hand, was a direct reaction to the US’ decision to impose $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods.
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