SHANGHAI, CHINA – AUGUST 14, 2025 – Vacationers are visiting the Bund in Shanghai, China on August 14, 2025.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Pictures
Asia-Pacific markets fell Monday after China and the U.S. tightened commerce restrictions and traded recent accusations, renewing tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
China on Sunday stated “we aren’t afraid of” a commerce battle with the US after President Donald Trump vowed to impose punishing new retaliatory tariffs on Chinese imports.
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce accused the U.S. of a “textbook double commonplace” with Trump’s promise on Friday to tack on further 100% tariffs on these imports after China imposed new export controls on rare earths minerals.
The latest coverage bulletins might sign that China intends to push for higher concessions from the U.S., Goldman Sachs wrote in a notice Sunday.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 misplaced 0.68%. South Korea’s Kospi plunged 2.35%, and the small-cap Kosdaq declined 2.24%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index pointed to a decrease open, buying and selling at 24,968, in opposition to the index’s earlier shut of 26,290.32.
Japan markets are closed for the vacations.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump recommended to traders the president might not comply with by means of on his menace to put up a “large improve of tariffs” on China.
That touch upon Friday introduced the U.S. commerce battle with China again to the fore, and sent stocks tumbling in a rout that wiped out $2 trillion in market value.
“Don’t fret about China, it can all be effective! Extremely revered President Xi simply had a nasty second. He does not need Despair for his nation, and neither do I,” Trump wrote. “The usA. needs to assist China, not harm it.”
On Friday stateside, the three U.S. main averages declined.
Shares accelerated promoting into the shut, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 878.82 factors, or 1.9%, at 45,479.60. The S&P 500 misplaced 2.71% to settle at 6,552.51, whereas the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.56% to 22,204.43. The broad-based index’s decline was the most important since April 10.
