Japan, China and Hong Kong react cautiously as businesses assess fallout from court decision
HONG KONG/TAIPEI:
US trading partners in Asia started weighing fresh uncertainties on Saturday after President Donald Trump vowed to impose a new tariff on imports, hours after the Supreme Court struck down many of the sweeping levies he used to launch a global trade war.
The US president said on Saturday he will raise temporary tariffs on almost all US imports from 10% to 15%, the maximum level allowed under the law, after the US Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff programme as invalid.
The court’s ruling invalidated a number of tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on Asian export powerhouses from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world’s largest chip maker and a key player in tech supply chains.
Within hours, Trump said he would impose a new 10% duty on US imports from all countries starting on Tuesday for an initial 150 days under a different law, prompting analysts to warn that more measures could follow, threatening more confusion for businesses and investors.
In Japan, a government spokesman said Tokyo “will carefully examine the content of this ruling and the Trump administration’s response to it, and respond appropriately.”
China, which is preparing to host Trump in late March, has yet to formally comment or launch any counter moves with the country on an extended holiday. But a senior financial official in China-ruled Hong Kong described the US situation as a “fiasco”.
Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and the treasury, Trump’s new levy served to underscore Hong Kong’s “unique trade advantages”, Hui said.
“This shows the stability of Hong Kong’s policies and our certainty… it shows global investors the importance of predictability,” Hui said at a media briefing on Saturday when asked how the new US tariff’s would affect the city’s economy.
Hong Kong operates as a separate customs territory from mainland China, a status that has shielded it from direct exposure to US tariffs targeting Chinese goods.
