US President Donald Trump's punishing tariffs on dozens of economies came into force today, including a 32 percent levy on Taiwanese goods and more than 100 percent against Chinese goods, sending markets into a tailspin again as the devastating global trade war intensified.
Following the sweeping 10 percent tariffs that took effect over the weekend, rates on imports to the US from exporters like the EU or Japan rose further at 12:01am today on the US east coast.
Photo: Bloomberg
China is the hardest hit, with tariffs imposed on its products since Trump returned to the White House now reaching a staggering 104 percent.
The markets accelerated their losses as the new tariffs came into effect, with Taiwan stocks closing down 5.8 percent in the afternoon.
Trump yesterday said that his government was working on "tailored deals" with trading partners, with the White House saying it would prioritize allies such as Japan and South Korea.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also told the Senate that Argentina, Vietnam and Israel were among those who had offered to reduce their tariffs.
Trump told a dinner with fellow Republicans last night that countries were "dying" to make a deal.
"I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass," he said.
However, Beijing has shown no signs of standing down, vowing to fight a trade war "to the end" and promising countermeasures to defend its interests.
China's retaliatory tariffs of 34 percent on US goods are due to enter in force at 12:01am tomorrow.
Trump believes his policy is to revive the US' lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the US.
However, many business experts and economists question how quickly — if ever — this can take place, warning of higher inflation as the tariffs raise prices.
Trump yesterday said the US was "taking in almost US$2 billion a day" from tariffs.
He originally unveiled a 34 percent additional tariff on Chinese goods, but after China countered with its own tariff of the same amount on US products, Trump piled on another 50 percent duty.
Late yesterday, Trump also said the US would announce a major tariff on pharmaceuticals "very shortly."
Separately, Canada said that its tariffs on certain US auto imports would come into force today.
After trillions in equity value were wiped off global bourses in the past days, markets in Asia came under pressure again today, with Hong Kong plunging more than 3 percent and Japan's Nikkei sinking 2.7 percent.
Ahead of European markets' open, stock futures were also indicating steep drops ahead.
Foreign exchange markets likewise witnessed ructions, with the South Korean won falling to its lowest level against the US dollar since 2009 this week.
China's offshore yuan also fell to an all-time low against the US dollar, as Beijing's central bank moved to weaken the yuan today for what Bloomberg said was the fifth day in a row.
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