South Korean Won Dips To Yearly Low As Trump Begins Imposing Tariffs – wna24

Seoul: The South Korean currency Won plunged to a yearly low against US dollar on Monday amid President Donald Trump’s tariff war anticipating its impact on Korean economy and businesses. Trump is keeping up on his poll promises to penalise those nations with tariffs who have imbalance trade with the United States.

Trump slapped 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 10 per cent on China, however, hours after imposing them, the President postponed tariffs for a month on Mexico.

This led to a drop in global stocks after Canada and Mexico retaliate. US stocks also opened on a low.

Wall Street opened lower on Monday following a worldwide selloff driven by concern that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China are just the opening salvo in a global trade war that would curb economic growth.

The US S&P 500 stock index fell almost 1.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.8%. The Russell 2000 index of small cap stocks – viewed as major beneficiaries of Trump’s policies – fell almost 1%.

In three executive orders, the United States imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports and a further 10% on goods from China, starting on Tuesday. However, tariffs for Mexico has been delayed for a month.  

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.4%, while the pound dropped 0.3% after Trump told reporters on Sunday that while the country was “out of line” when it came to trade, it may be able to avoid tariffs.

“We’ll see how things work out. It might happen with them, but it will definitely happen with the European Union, I can tell you that,” Trump told reporters after returning to Washington from Mar-a-Lago.

Trump warned Americans might feel “some pain” as tariffs are expected to increase consumer prices in the United States, while the effect of the trade war is expected to be felt far beyond North America.

With inputs from Reuters