The rand suffered a setback on Wednesday morning as the trade dispute between the US and China took a new twist, reviving concern about the effect of a potential fallout on the world’s economy. The Trump administration was on the offensive again, announcing late on Tuesday that it was looking to impose additional import tariffs on Chinese goods, triggering a response from China that it would do the same to defend itself. The US has accused China of unfair trade and intellectual property theft — charges that China denies. The US is looking impose 10% import duties on $200bn worth of Chinese goods. This is in addition to the 25% tariff it placed on $34bn worth of Chinese imports on Friday. Global markets were shaky after the latest developments, mirrored by the weaker rand and local bonds, which are vulnerable to fickle global sentiment.
"The trade war story is still paramount to the sentiment … at the moment, and the more to-ing and fro-ing we have the more uncertain the market...
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