China leads declines in Asian equities as Trump raises stakes in trade war
Tokyo — A sell-off in Chinese stocks drove Asian equities to a four-month low on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on Chinese goods in an escalating tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump warned on Monday that Washington would impose a 10% tariff on $200bn of Chinese goods after Beijing’s decision to raise tariffs on $50bn in US goods, which was in retaliation for US tariffs announced on Friday. Trump said if China increased its tariffs again in response to the latest US move, "we will meet that action by pursuing additional tariffs on another $200bn of goods". China warned it would take "qualitative" and "quantitative" measures if the US government published an additional list of tariffs on its products. The trade friction has unnerved financial markets, with investors and businesses increasingly worried that a full-blown trade battle could derail global growth. "Trump appears to be employing a similar tactic he used with No...
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