The benchmark indices of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges dropped 2.31% and 2.58%, respectively, shortly after trading commenced.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange’s benchmark index fell by about 65 points, while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange index decreased by approximately 250 points.
On Monday, the two exchanges experienced declines of 7.34% and 9.66%, respectively, following the announcement of a package of countermeasures by Chinese authorities last Friday, which included additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. products.
On Tuesday, the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges bounced back, gaining 1.58% and 0.64%, respectively, boosted by market support from Chinese state investment institutions.
The main index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Hang Seng, fell about 3.24% in the minutes following the opening, losing more than 600 points shortly after the session began and dropping below the 20,000 mark.
The index had suffered a 13.2% drop on Monday due to fears of a global recession stemming from trade tensions between the two largest economies in the world, although it managed to recover a slight 1.51% in Tuesday’s session.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that the additional 50% tariffs threatened by Trump against China would take effect today.
The taxation rate on imports from the Asian country is now at least 104%.
Last Friday, China unveiled a series of countermeasures in response to tariffs announced by Trump the previous week, which had already raised the levies on Chinese goods to at least 54%.
Beijing’s measures include 34% tariffs on imports from the United States, sanctions against certain U.S. companies, export restrictions on certain rare earths, suspension of imports of chicken and sorghum products from select U.S. businesses, and the initiation of anti-monopoly and anti-dumping investigations against American companies and products.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday expressed “strong condemnation” of the “blackmail nature” of the United States and warned that the Asian country “will fight to the end.”
