HONG KONG: Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong surged on Tuesday as investors loaded up on artificial intelligence and electric vehicle shares while shrugging off news of tit-for-tat Sino-US tariffs on each other’s goods.
China’s finance ministry announced a package of tariffs on a range of US products in an immediate response to President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on Chinese imports that went into effect at 0501 GMT.
Investors had been hoping Trump would retract the proposal to raise tariffs on China at the last minute, just as he did with Canada and Mexico on Monday.
However, as the deadline passed and US tariffs came into force, Beijing announced its own levies of 15% for US coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos. The new tariffs on US exports will start on Feb. 10, China’s finance ministry said.
“China is trying to get some bargaining power before getting close to the negotiating table. It doesn’t mean that they will not go for negotiation talks,” said Steven Leung, who handles institutional trading at stockbroker UOB-Kay Hian in Hong Kong.
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