Asian markets slumped on Tuesday as renewed fears of a trade war between the US and China resurfaced following President Donald Trump’s call for fresh investment curbs on Chinese industries. The selloff followed a weak performance on Wall Street, where concerns over China’s DeepSeek AI chatbot disrupted investor sentiment in tech stocks.
Trump’s decision to proceed with tariffs on Canada and Mexico after a temporary suspension added to the uncertainty, while his newly signed memo aims to restrict Chinese investments in key US sectors like technology, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. The White House defended the move as a national security measure, but China condemned it as discriminatory.
Major indices in Asia fell, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropping 1.3%, Tokyo’s Nikkei down 1.4%, and Shanghai’s Composite losing 0.8%. The Hang Seng was particularly hit as Alibaba, JD.com, and Tencent saw significant losses.
Meanwhile, the South Korean market declined after the country’s central bank cut its economic outlook and lowered interest rates, partly due to fears over Trump’s trade policies and domestic political uncertainty.
