US President Donald Trump on Friday said that his tariff policy was “doing really well” despite China hiking levies on US goods to 125 percent in spiraling disputes between the world’s two biggest economies.
Investors dumped US government bonds, the US dollar tumbled and stocks seesawed after Beijing’s retaliation against Trump deepened concerns about already traumatized global markets.
Trump sent financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10 percent on Wednesday for 90 days — while raising levies on goods from China.
Photo: AP
“We are doing really well on our tariff policy,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network after China announced its latest hike.
“Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.
The White House later said that Trump remained “optimistic” about a deal with China, and added that 15 other countries have offers “on the table” during his 90-day pause in their tariffs.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president made it very clear, when the United States is punched he will punch back harder.”
The US and Beijing have been trading salvos of increasingly harsh tariffs since last week.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) gave his first major comments on the tensions on Friday, with Chinese state media quoting him as saying his country was “not afraid.”
Xi also said the EU and China should “jointly resist unilateral bullying practices” during talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Beijing announced after Xi’s comments that new tariffs of 125 percent on US goods would take effect yesterday — almost matching the 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into the US.
Trump reiterated on Thursday that he was looking to do a deal with Xi despite the mounting tensions.
“He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters.
However, US officials have made it clear they expect Xi to reach out first.
Meanwhile, yields on crucial US government bonds, which are normally seen as a financial refuge, were up again on Friday, indicating weaker demand as investors take fright.
Wall Street stocks finished higher on Friday, concluding a rollercoaster week on a positive note amid hopes that the market has absorbed the worst headlines about trade conflicts.
However, policymakers at the US Federal Reserve warned of higher inflation and slower growth ahead due to Trump’s tariff policy.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS