U.S. President Donald Trump is calling for even more tariffs to be slapped on an even wider range of Chinese goods... unless Beijing makes some drastic changes to its trade policies.
In response,... China has vowed to strike back hard if Washington actually pushes ahead with the new duties.
Seo Bo-bin reports.
U.S. President Trump has requested that the U.S. Trade Representative's office draws up a list of 200-billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese goods for an additional 10-percent import tariff. This comes after an official announcement by U.S government on Friday to place a 25-percent tariff on 50 billion dollars of Chinese goods.
President Trump had said that the new ten percent tariff would go into effect unless Beijing changes course on its own trade actions towards U.S. goods and addresses the theft of American intellectual property by Chinese companies.
After President Trump's announcement, China's Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday that it will take countermeasures if the U.S goes ahead with the additional tariffs.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry also mentioned that the fresh tariff threats violated the consensus between the two countries and initiated a trade war. It added that Beijing will safeguard the interests of China and its people and defend free trade.
But it's not just the two superpowers that are affected by the looming trade war. Overseas funds are pulling out from six major Asian emerging markets at a rate unseen since the 2008 financial crisis.
19 billion U.S dollars has been withdrawn from South Korea, India, Indonesia, The Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand so far this year.
Many developing countries and Asian nations have raised their interest rates to try and stop the pullout. The Philippine central bank raised its key rate last month and is expected to raise it again by 0-point-2-5 percent.
And the Bank of Thailand is likely to increase rates in the next quarter.
Seo Bo-bin, Arirang News.
