By Sukumar Rajah, Senior Managing Director, Director of Portfolio Management, Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity; and Jason Zhu, Director of Portfolio Management - China Equities, Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity
On Thursday, August 1, 2019, US President Donald Trump announced an additional 10% tariff on a further US$300 billion of Chinese exports starting September 1, 2019. China retaliated by suspending US agricultural product purchases.
Then, on August 6, the United States formally labeled China as a currency manipulator, after the Chinese RMB depreciated to above seven per US dollar for the first time since 2009.