Just days after US trade team concluded a meeting with China in Shanghai, Trump suddenly announced to start imposing 10% tariffs on USD 300B of Chinese imports. That’s effectively the rest of all untaxed Chinese goods. New tariffs are expected to take effective on September 1.
Trump complained that Chinese President Xi Jinping was “not going fast enough” with his promises even Xi wanted to make a deal. And he threatened to raise tariffs further if China fails to more move quickly onwards. That could include moving beyond 25% tariffs already imposed on another USD 250B of Chinese imports.
In the financial markets, Yen surged broadly on risk aversion in reaction to sharp decline in stocks and treasury yields. DOW closed down -1.05% overnight. S&P 500 dropped -0.90%. NASDAQ dropped -0.79%. 10-year yield dropped -0.127 to 1.894, making new 2019 low. In Asia, Hong Kong HSI gapped down and is currently down -2.37%.
