HONG KONG: China’s yuan eased slightly against the dollar on Friday despite the pullback in the greenback, as uncertainties surrounding US tariffs and their looming impact on China exports kept investors nervous.
China’s exports lost momentum over the January-February period and imports unexpectedly shrank, official data on Friday shows, amid escalating trade tensions with the United States.
Exports from the largest manufacturing nation rose just 2.3% year-on-year, missing a growth forecast of 5% in a Reuters poll of economists. Imports shrank 8.4%.
As of 0323 GMT, the yuan was 0.08% lower at 7.2478 to the dollar after trading in a range of 7.2450 to 7.2535.
The Trump administration doubled tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20% this week, and Beijing quickly responded with counter tariffs of 10-15% on certain US imports.
Some analysts believe the recent stability of the yuan will be short-lived given the yuan could face bigger risks if the US escalates trade tariffs and imposes more investment restrictions.
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