Containers stacked at a port in Lianyungang in the northeastern Jiangsu province of China. (VCG/Getty Images)

Asian Economies Will Be Most Badly Hit by Slowing Global Trade

As export-reliant economies, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan will likely be most badly hit by the increasingly heated tensions between China and the US that threatens to slow down the global trading volume.

According to economist Steve Cochrane from Moody’s Analytics, the three Asian economies are highly exposed to the Chinese economy because they have to fill the domestic demand of Chinese consumers and also supply products that factories in China assemble and sell to markets such as the United States.

Since May many foreign investors have stayed away from stocks in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Data from major stocks exchanged also showed that foreign investors have been net sellers in the three markets.

For now, investors are watching the upcoming G-20 summit that will be held at the end of June and any prospective recovery in the three stock markets will depend on the evolving frictions between China and the US in the coming weeks. However, Donald Trump indicated in his earlier statement that he is considering to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods after the event.

The two world’s largest economies have engaged in tariff war since more than a year ago. The tensions even expanded into areas such as technology and security—as Washington placed ban on Huawei that restricting American companies from doing business with the Chinese telecom equipment maker as well as limiting visas for Chinese students and government workers who wish to study in American universities, which become concern of the US government on copyright stealing by academicians linked to the Chinese government.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/18/moodys-analytics-japan-south-korea-taiwan-vulnerable-in-trade-war.html