[HONG KONG] Asian investors trod cautiously on Friday as Donald Trump’s deadline to avert his steep tariffs approached, with the US president saying he planned to start sending letters informing trading partners of their rates.
Uncertainty leading up to next week’s cut-off tempered the positive lead from another record on Wall Street, where a forecast-busting US jobs report soothed worries about the world’s top economy.
Governments around the world have fought to hammer out deals with Washington ahead of the July 9 deadline, set after Trump unveiled a blitz of levies on his “Liberation Day” in early April.
He and his top officials have said several were in the pipeline, but only Britain and Vietnam have signed pacts while China has agreed to a framework for it and the United States to slash tit-for-tat tolls and ship certain products.
While negotiators continue to seek ways to avert the worst of the White House’s measures,…
