‘No Plans To Retaliate’: Taiwan To Deepen US Investment Despite Trump’s Import Tariffs

Taiwan's financial regulator is imposing temporary restrictions on short-selling to mitigate potential market volatility caused by US import tariffs. The measures include limiting short-sellable shares and increasing the short-selling margin.

President of R.O.C. Taiwan.

Source : Twitter

The top financial regulator of Taiwan said on Sunday that it will impose temporary curbs on the short-selling of shares to help deal with potential market turmoil from U.S. President Donald Trump's new import tariffs, reports news agency Reuters. In a statement, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan said that it would limit the number of shares that can be sold short and raise the minimum short-selling margin ratio to 130% from 90%, starting from Monday and lasting until Friday. 

It will continue to monitor the international financial developments and the domestic capital market and adjust the measures "in a timely manner", it added, without elaborating.

"The new regulations have been introduced to make it clear that speculative short selling is not welcome," Kao Ching-ping, deputy head of the commission's Securities and Futures Bureau, told Reuters.

According to HT, the Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that the country will  not retaliate with reciprocal tariffs against the US but will work on removing trade barriers. 

Taiwan, which is the biggest manufacturer of advanced semiconductors and runs a large trade surplus with the United States, is subject to a 32% tariff under the plans announced by Trump on Wednesday. 

According to Reuters quoting the traders, the Taiwan dollar is likely to face considerable pressure against the US dollar on Monday, given expected heavy falls in the domestic stock market and an outflow of foreign capital. But a source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Taiwan has abundant foreign currency reserves to help the central bank cushion the impact on the Taiwan dollar when the market reopens.

"The central bank is confident that it has the ability to maintain the stability of the exchange rate," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Taiwan dollar has depreciated around 0.9% against the greenback so far this year, while the benchmark stock index is down 7.5% since the start of the year.