WAIVERS END: Page 4 Sinopec, CNPC skip Iran oil buy for May Saturday, May 11, 2019 Ramadan 6, 1440 AH NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS: Page 12 US FCC bars China GULF TIMES Mobile from market; reviewing other BUSINESS Chinese carriers Turkish banks Trump says in no hurry sell dollars to support lira Reuters The move to suspend one-week to sign deal with China Ankara repo auctions for the second time in less than two months will gradually raise the average Turkish state banks sold more cost of funding from the bank’s than $1bn on Thursday and benchmark one-week repo rate overnight, sources said, helping of 24% to the overnight lending the lira to firm more than 2% at rate of 25.5%. Some analysts as trade war escalates one stage and stem declines have said a more eff ective meas- triggered by a decision this week ure to stem the lira’s fall would US tariff increase on Chinese goods growth,” French Finance Minister Bruno to re-run Istanbul’s mayoral be a straightforward hike in the takes eff ect; China to retaliate, does Le Maire said yesterday. Many business election. policy rate. not immediately give details; US, groups have opposed the tariff s, saying The lira traded at 6.0975 at 1315 “The steady trend of (lira) depre- Chinese off icials start second day they will be disastrous for companies and GMT, up from Thursday’s close ciation could potentially push in- of talks lead to higher prices for consumers across of 6.1935. flation significantly higher than a range of products. The currency rose to 6.0515 expected even beyond 2019. Reuters “Our industry supports more than against the US dollar in over- The central bank move has Washington/Beijing 18mn US jobs — but raising tariff s will be night Asia trade. had markedly limited positive disastrous,” Gary Shapiro, chief executive Ziraat Bank, Turkey’s largest impact on the currency this time of the Consumer Technology Association, lender by asset size, was one of around,” Yatirim Finansman said S President Donald Trump yes- a US trade group, said in a statement. the banks that sold dollars to in a note to clients. terday said he was in no hurry to It may take three or four months for support the lira, according to “If CBRT wants to stop (lira) Usign a trade deal with China as American shoppers to feel the pinch but two sources familiar with the volatility eff ectively, it might Washington imposed a new set of tariff s retailers will have little choice but to raise matter. have to introduce a plain vanilla on Chinese goods and negotiators ended prices to cover the rising cost of imports Ziraat Bank was not immediately monetary tightening.” a second day of talks to try to salvage an before too long, economists and industry available for comment. The bank also said it lowered a agreement. consultants say. The sources did not specify foreign exchange maintenance The United States early yesterday in- The US-China battle also has raised which funds the banks used for facility within its so-called re- creased its tariff s on $200bn in Chinese alarm in Europe, which faces an economic the dollar sales, but economists serve options mechanism (ROM) goods to 25% from 10%, rattling fi nancial slowdown and the ripple eff ects of Brit- say the banks have used dollars to 30% from 40% to support markets already worried the 10-month ain’s decision to leave the European Un- sourced from Central Bank facili- financial stability. trade war between the world’s two largest Liu He, China’s vice-premier (left), shakes hands with Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury ion. ties earlier this year to sell into This year’s lira losses come on economies could spiral out of control. Secretary, while departing the Off ice of the US Trade Representative following a meeting There are concerns Trump will follow the market to support the lira. top of a near 30% slide in its China is expected to retaliate. in Washington, DC. yesterday. “They were constructive discussions. That’s all I can say,” through on a threat to impose tariff s on The lira has lost as much as 15% value last year on concerns over The tariff s went into eff ect just hours Mnuchin told reporters as he left. Liu, the lead Chinese negotiator, told reporters at his imported cars and auto parts, an impor- against the dollar this year, with the independence of the central before US Trade Representative Robert hotel in Washington that the talks had gone “fairly well,” Bloomberg reported. tant export sector for Europe. the latest weakness driven by in- bank as well as strained relations Lighthizer, US Treasury Secretary Steven EU countries agreed last month to start vestor concerns over Monday’s with the United States. Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He more than 1% and prices of US govern- toms and Border Protection imposed a formal trade negotiations with the United decision to re-run a mayoral Investors fear that the decision held a second day of talks in Washington. ment debt rose. 25% duty on more than 5,700 categories States, notably on a deal to cut duties on election in Istanbul that had to repeat the Istanbul election The session broke up after about 90 The US dollar slipped against a basket of products leaving China after 12:01am industrial goods. If Washington imposes been narrowly won by the main on June 23 will add nearly two minutes. of currencies. EDT (0401 GMT) yesterday. new trade-restrictive measures, the talks opposition party. months of uncertainty over “They were constructive discussions. Trump, who has adopted protection- Seaborne cargoes shipped from China would be suspended and duties would be Electoral authorities cancelled Turkey’s plans to rebalance and That’s all I can say,” Mnuchin told re- ist policies as part of his “America First” before midnight were not subject to the imposed on US goods. the result of the March 31 vote stabilise the economy. porters as he left Lighthizer’s offi ces near agenda and railed against China for trade new tax as long as they arrived in the The biggest Chinese sector aff ected by in Turkey’s largest city and com- The central bank’s net interna- midday. practices he labels unfair, said the trade United States prior to June 1. the latest tariff increase is a $20 billion- mercial hub after appeals from tional reserves fell slightly to Liu, the lead Chinese negotiator, told talks, originally due to end yesterday, Those cargoes will be charged the origi- plus category of Internet modems, rout- AK Party. $25.84bn in dollar terms as of reporters at his hotel in Washington that could drag on beyond this week. nal 10% rate. ers and other data transmission devices, On Thursday Turkey’s central May 3, data showed on Thurs- the talks had gone “fairly well,” Bloomb- “We will continue to negotiate with “This delay might create an unoffi cial followed by about $12bn worth of printed bank eff ectively tightened policy day, while gross forex reserves erg reported. China in the hopes that they do not again window during which the US and China circuit boards used in a vast array of US- by funding the market through a fell nearly 1% to $72.63bn, In a series of morning tweets, Trump try to redo deal!” said Trump, who has can continue to negotiate,” investment made products. higher rate and took additional another cause of concern for defended the tariff hike and said he was accused Beijing of reneging on commit- bank Goldman Sachs wrote in a note, Furniture, lighting products, auto liquidity steps to bolster the lira. economists. in “absolutely no rush” to fi nalise a deal, ments it made during months of negotia- adding that it was a “somewhat positive parts, vacuum cleaners and building ma- adding that the US economy would gain tions. sign” that talks were continuing. terials also are high on the list of products more from the levies than any agreement. Following the US tariff hike, China’s Trump gave US importers less than fi ve subject to increased duties. “Tariff s will bring in FAR MORE wealth Commerce Ministry said it would take days notice about his decision to increase Just hours after the US move, which to our country than even a phenomenal countermeasures but did not elaborate. the rate on $200bn worth of goods, which will add pressure on an already slowing deal of the traditional kind,” Trump said China responded to Trump’s tar- now matches the rate on a prior $50bn Chinese economy, China’s central bank in one of the tweets. iff s last year with levies on a range of category of Chinese machinery and tech- said it was fully able to cope with any ex- Despite Trump’s insistence that China US goods including soybeans and pork, nology goods. ternal uncertainty. will absorb the cost of the tariff s, US busi- which hurt US farmers at a time when He has also threatened to put new tar- James Green, a senior adviser at nesses will pay them and likely pass them their debt has spiked to its highest level iff s on another $325bn in Chinese imports. McLarty Associates who until August on to consumers. in decades. Investors worry the escalating trade was the top USTR offi cial at the embassy Consumer spending accounts for more US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue war will further damage a slowing global in Beijing, said he expected China would than two-thirds of US economic activity.