Asian economies weigh impact of new Trump tariff moves
U.S. trading partners in Asia began weighing new uncertainties after President Donald Trump vowed to impose a new tariff on imports, just hours after the Supreme Court struck down many of the sweeping tariffs used to spark a global trade war.
The court’s ruling invalidated a series of tariffs the Trump administration had imposed on Asia’s export powerhouses, from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world’s largest chipmaker and a major player in technology supply chains.
Trump said he would impose a new 10 percent tax on U.S. imports from all countries for the first 150 days starting Tuesday under a different law.
In Japan, a government spokesman said Tokyo would “carefully review the content of this decision and the Trump administration’s response to it and respond appropriately.”
China, which is preparing to host Trump in late March, has not yet made an official comment on the extended holiday or initiated any counter-movement regarding the country.
But a senior financial official in Chinese-run Hong Kong described the US situation as a “debacle”.
Trump’s new tax serves to underscore Hong Kong’s “unique trade advantages,” said Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and treasury.
“This shows the stability of Hong Kong’s policies and our certainty… shows global investors the importance of predictability,” Hui said at a news conference on Saturday when asked how new US tariffs would affect the city’s economy.
Hong Kong operates as a separate customs territory from mainland China, protecting it from direct exposure to U.S. tariffs targeting Chinese goods.
Before the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump’s tariff hikes had strained Washington’s diplomatic relations across Asia, especially for export-oriented economies integrated into U.S. supply chains.
Trade policy watchdog Global Trade Alert estimated that the decision by itself cut the trade-weighted average U.S. tariff by nearly half, from 15.4 percent to 8.3 percent.
For countries with higher US tariff levels, the change is more dramatic.
For China, Brazil and India, this would mean cuts of double-digit percentage points, although still at high levels.
In Taiwan, the government stated that it is monitoring the situation closely and that the US government has not yet determined exactly how it will implement trade agreements with many countries.
Taiwan recently signed two agreements with the United States; one was a memorandum of understanding in January pledging to invest US$250 billion ($354 billion) in Taiwan, and the second was signed this month to reduce mutual tariffs.
Nantapong Chiralerspong, head of Thailand’s Office of Trade Policy and Strategy, said the decision could even benefit exports as uncertainty leads to a new round of “front-loading” and shippers race to move their goods to the United States, fearing higher tariffs.
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