Tag Archives: Stock

Trump sets metals tariffs but exempts Canada and Mexico

FILE PHOTO: Rolled steel are seen at a Hyundai Steel plant in Dangjin, about 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Seoul June 15, 2011. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won/File Photo

By David Lawder, Antonio De la Jara and Dave Sherwood

WASHINGTON/SANTIAGO (Reuters) – President Donald Trump pressed ahead with the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum on Thursday but exempted Canada and Mexico, backtracking from earlier pledges of tariffs on all countries.

Details of the plan came from a briefing by administration officials ahead of Trump’s speech, which had been due to start at 3:30 p.m. (2030 GMT). Trump will say that other countries can apply for exemptions, according to the administration, although details of when they would be granted were thin.

Trump has offered relief from steel and aluminum tariffs to countries that “treat us fairly on trade,” a gesture aimed at putting pressure on Canada and Mexico to give ground in separate talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which appear to be stalled.

Trump has also demanded concession from the European Union, complaining that it treated American cars unfairly and has threatened to hike tariffs on auto imports from Europe.

Stock markets in Canada and Mexico rallied on the news, as did the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso.

There was no mention of Mexico and Canada giving ground on NAFTA in the proposals.

Trump’s tariffs have triggered the threat of countermeasures from the European Union and now China. The levies aim to hit Beijing, although China exports very little of either metal to the United States.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina, Elias Glenn, Kim Coghill, Brian Love, Nichola Saminather, Doina Chiacu and Andrea Hopkins; writing by David Stamp and David Chance; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Frances Kerry)

Chinese Stock Market Plunge Roils Markets

The Chinese government is preparing to buy shares of stock to stabilize their markets after a plunge of more than 8 percent on Monday that impacted markets across the world.

The government also threatened to “deal severely” with anyone who is found to be engaging in “malicious shorting of stocks” in the government’s opinion.

The two Chinese markets, the CSI300 and the SSEC lost 8.6% and 8.5% respectively.  Only 13 of the 1,114 stocks on the Shanghai Composite were up after Monday.

“Because of the high, still high leverage exposure of the Chinese markets, anything that triggers a decline in such a short time will see some negative spiral effects in such highly leveraged markets,” Raymond Yeung, senior economist of Greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, told VOA.

The Chinese market collapse caused the Dow Industrial Average to fall 150 points at the opening Monday.

“The fear factor of China is very much alive in the market. That’s nearing us to some technical support levels,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital told CNBC. “Slow growth out of China just complicates the oil picture.”

The Chinese market caused oil to fall below $48 a barrel.

One Chinese market expert says the government should allow the market to correct as Chinese stocks are overpriced.

“The valuation of Chinese [stock] markets remains over-priced, which creates rooms for further downward revisions. The government’s rescue measures could curb the slides in a short term, but are powerless in reversing the long-term trend,” Lu Suiqi, associate professor of economics at Peking University says.