China has upper hand in Trump trade war due to TIME DIFFERENCE as tariffs hit US first
Both countries are planning to put a 25 percent duty on £25.78billion ($34billion) worth of products on Friday July 6, but because Beijing is 12 hours ahead of Washington China will be implementing them first. Donald Trump’s administration first declared the US would slap tariffs on Chinese products that cover more than 800 categories. China is just retaliating to Mr Trump’s escalating threats and isolationist trade policies. The tariff will take effect at the beginning of the day, but a specific time for China is unclear.
An anonymous source told Reuters that the US will implement their tariffs from midnight. They said: “Our measures are equal and being equal means that if the US starts on July 6, we start on July 6. “The implementation time for all policies starts at midnight.” The China’s customs agency did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
GETTY China's tariff will hit the US first
However, if China were to implement their tariffs at midnight on July 6, it would still be July 5 in Washington. The threat of a trade war has sent the Chinese yuan into a tailspin as the stock market remains jittery. Yesterday, the currency hit an 11-month low as investors and traders are uncertain about the increased tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. The market is expected to remain this way until July 6.
Donald Trump's Asia tour in pictures Mon, November 13, 2017 Donald Trump and Melania Trump embark on a 12-day trip to five different Asian nations which are Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 100 Thailand's PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha, Vietnam's PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, U.S. President Trump, Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte and Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong pose for a family photo during the ASEAN-US 40th Anniversary commemorative Summit in Manila
A market strategist at the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank says it is too early to tell what the tariff’s impact will be on the global economy, but it has already caused rife speculation in China. Ayako Sera said: “It's not clear yet if the trade row will derail the global economy as a whole but it's already clear that it will harm Chinese companies. "That is why we've seen Chinese yuan and Chinese stocks have suffered sell-offs. I think this will continue at least until the July 6 deadline." The tailspin isn’t expected to be a repeat of 2015 where the Chinese market unexpectedly repeat allowed the currency to weaken nearly three percent again the US dollar.
GETTY The US President has escalated tensions that could lead to a trade war