HONG KONG – Stocks rose yesterday as traders cautiously welcomed Donald Trump’s extension of his tariff deadline and indication he could push it back further, though uncertainty over United States (US) trade policy capped gains.

Days before the three-month pause on his “Liberation Day” tariffs was set to expire, the US president said he would give governments an extra three weeks to hammer out deals to avoid paying sky-high levies for exports to the world’s biggest economy.

That came as he sent out letters to more than a dozen countries – including top trading partners Japan and South Korea – setting out what he had decided to charge if they did not reach agreements by the new 1 August target date.

Investors tentatively welcomed the delay amid hopes officials will be able to reach deals with Washington, with some observers seeing the latest move by the president as a negotiation tactic. The letters said Tokyo and Seoul would be hit with 25% tariffs, while Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia faced duties ranging from 25% to 40%.

When asked if the new deadline was set in stone, the president said: “I would say firm, but not 100% firm”.

Asked whether the letters were his final offer, he replied: “I would say final – but if they call with a different offer, and I like it, then we’ll do it”.

While Wall Street’s three main indexes ended down – with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq back from record highs – Asian markets mostly rose.

Tokyo and Seoul advanced, while there were also gains in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Wellington, Manila, Mumbai and Singapore. London, Paris and Frankfurt all rose at the open.

But Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta slipped while Sydney was flat.

The White House has for weeks said that numerous deals were in the pipeline, with treasury secretary Scott Bessent claiming Monday that “we are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours”. 

 – Nampa/AFP