Hong Kong stocks slip as Trump’s tariffs stoke trade-war fears, BYD slumps

Name: Trump says tariffs on Chinese imports will double to 20% and take effect on March 4
Uploaded: 2025-03-04T02:19:18.000Z
Duration: 2 min 3 s
Description: Trump says tariffs on Chinese imports will double to 20% and take effect on March 4

US president reaffirms that tariffs on Chinese imports will double to 20 per cent as reprieve period for Canada and Mexico ends

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US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 25, 2025. Photo: TNS

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 10:19am, 4 Mar 2025Updated: 4:59pm, 4 Mar 2025

Hong Kong stocks slipped, taking cues from sell-offs in the US and Asia, after US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats stoked fears of a global trade war and investors rebuked BYD for its stock placement plan.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 per cent to 22,941.77 on Tuesday, after sinking earlier by as much as 2 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index was little changed. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index fell 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2 per cent.

Electric-vehicle maker BYD plunged 6.8 per cent to HK$339 on a plan to raise HK$43.5 billion (US$5.6 billion) in its biggest-ever share placement. Peer Geely Automobile slid 5.7 per cent to HK$16.88. Alibaba Group Holding retreated 2 per cent to HK$127.80, Meituan dropped 0.9 per cent to HK$161.20 and Xiaomi lost 0.8 per cent to HK$50.55.

Trump’s tariffs reverberated across global markets, with the S&P 500 slumping 1.8 per cent overnight for the worst sell-off this year. All major stock markets in Asia also weakened. The yield on 10-year US Treasuries fell to a four-month low of 4.14 per cent.

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Trump says tariffs on Chinese imports will double to 20% and take effect on March 4

“Traders across the region are left scrambling to assess the damage,” said Stephen Innes, managing director at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok. “The spectre of a full-blown trade war is once again looming, threatening to choke global economic growth.”