Some few days back Chinese trade negotiators told reporters that Trump Administration of a trade deal is ready to be signed by both sides this month which need not be taken seriously. Latest reports suggest that Chinese stock markets tumbled on Monday after the U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on China, putting a trade deal in doubt.
Trump in a tweet announced that he would increase tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods at the end of this week and “shortly” impose levies on hundreds of billions of dollars of additional imports. Dozens of high-level Chinese officials are arriving in Washington this week for what was expected to be a final round of negotiations towards a trade agreement, at least in principle.
Recent comments had suggested both sides were nearing a trade deal. A Chinese delegation was due to travel to Washington this week for talks aimed at ending the U.S.-China trade war. US media has reported that China is now considering canceling those talks that were scheduled to resume on Wednesday. Some reports said that the Chinese were due to send a 100-person delegation to the negotiations, led by Vice-Premier Liu He.
China’s CSI 300 index of major Shanghai – and Shenzhen-listed stocks on Monday tumbled as much as 6.1 percent before pulling back to be down 5.5 percent, putting the benchmark on track for its worst day since February 2016. S&P 500 futures fell as much as 2.1 percent while in Europe Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax index was down 1.4, and the CAC 40 fell 1.5 percent in early trading.
There is still hope as Trump has the power to walk the policy back through an executive order if negotiations progress favorably throughout the week.
