Business

VALENCIA, Venezuela — About 100 workers protested outside tyre manufacturer Pirelli's Venezuela plant on Monday after finding the gates locked, ten days after the country announced a broad set of reforms including a massive hike in the minimum wage.

Employees were not told the plant would be shut, said union leader Luis Alvarez, who added it was not immediately known if it was temporary or if the operation had permanently closed its doors. 

"Production was falling, but they always kept us on the job," said worker Nicolas Altomaris, who was waiting at a gate for information. "Now they've made this decision to send us out without knowing if we'll return."

Union leaders say about 700 employees work at the plant. 

Pirelli and parent company China National Chemical Corp. Ltd. did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Venezuela's Information Ministry also did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

On August, 17 President Nicolas Maduro ordered a 3,000 per cent minimum wage increase while also requiring that companies leave prices of their products fixed amid a hyperinflationary crisis.

Business leaders say the package is unsustainable and would force many firms to close their doors. 

In the past, Pirelli Venezuela has temporarily halted operations due to a lack of raw materials. Currency controls make it difficult to import such materials, while price controls can at times force companies to sell below production costs. 

The company, which supplies tyres for Formula One, manufactures tyres for cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses in Venezuela. It was acquired in 2015 by China National Chemical, known as ChemChina, which is owned by the Chinese government.

Multinational companies including Clorox Co. and Kellogg Co. have been steadily leaving the country amid shrinking demand caused by an economic collapse.

Maduro has said the country is victim of an "economic war" led by political adversaries with the help of Washington.

PARIS — "Our cows have been living off hay cut in June, there isn't any grass," says Jean-Guillaume Hannequin, a farmer in eastern France, who like his counterparts across much of northern Europe is wondering how he will feed his animals this winter.

Mediterranean countries long ago adapted their farming practices to little rain, but this year it is the north of Europe confronting a widespread drought that could see farmers having to send much of their herds to slaughter due to a lack of feed.

In Sweden, where swathes of territory were burned by wildfires this summer, as the country baked under century-high temperatures, the grain harvest is expected to be down around 30 per cent and it is unclear whether recent cooler temperatures will allow farmers to take in more hay.

"The feed shortage will be felt this coming winter," Harald Svensson, chief economist for the Swedish Board of Agriculture, told AFP, explaining that "most farmers have relied on their winter feed reserves during the drought this summer".

The situation is similar in Germany, where officials say one in 25 farms is at risk of going out of business. In Lower Saxony, a key region for growing fodder crops, the harvest is expected to be more than 40 per cent down from normal years.

In The Netherlands, the deficit for fodder is estimated to be 40 to 60 per cent, according to the agricultural association, with the deficit for grain at 20 per cent. 

 Price gouging 

The English countryside is far from its normal undulating green this year, having not seen a drought like this in 80 years, according to the official Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). Milk production is down sharply due to a lack of hay.

In France, "the east has been suffering since the beginning of July, and the rest of the country since August with an extended heatwave", said Patrick Benezit of the FNSEA umbrella group of French farmers' unions.

"In many places, even in the Massif Central, the 'water tower' of France, there won't be a second cutting of hay, this is really worrrying," he told AFP.

Benezit also criticised the price gouging for straw.

"Farmers need to buy straw to mix with hay to feed their animals, and the traders are profiting from the situation" by asking for up to 100 euros ($116) per tonne, he said, when straw sold for between 60 and 80 euros last year.

As prices for fodder and hay climb higher, farmers are sending animals to the slaughterhouse earlier than usual.

In Britain, the number of cattle slaughtered jumped by 18 per cent in July, with dairy cows making up a large portion, according to the AHDB.

In Germany, where the government has unlocked emergency aid for farmers, there was a 10 per cent increase in animals slaughtered in the first two weeks of July, according to authorities.

The Swedish government has responded by pledging 1.2 billion kronor (117 million euros, $135 million) in aid for farmers to buy fodder and avoid sending their animals to the slaughterhouse.

French farmers are concerned due to the monopoly on slaughterhouses by the Bigard group.

"We are afraid they'll turn the drought into a bonanza by buying our animals at even lower prices when we already have difficulty surviving," said one livestock farmer who requested anonymity.

 Throwing in the towel? 

The situation is dire for dairy farmers, who have already been complaining that they are not being paid enough for their milk to survive.

"The winter risks being catastrophic," said another French farmer. "To complement the rations of the animals we are going to have to buy grain, the price of which went up this summer, so milk will become more expensive to produce."

According to Erwin Schoepges, president of the European Milk Board which counts as members more than 100,000 small dairy farmers, "even before this drought, production costs weren't being covered".

He said farmers were producing milk at 40 to 45 cents per litre, but able to sell it for only around 30 to 33 cents a litre.

With the drought, their production costs will increase further, he said.

The European Commission has promised exceptional aid to farmers, like speeding up aid payments and allowing farmers to cut hay from fallow land.

But French farmer Hannequin is not optimistic.

"There are going to be a massive number of farms abandoned," he warned.

ISTANBUL — The Turkish lira firmed against the dollar on Friday after weakening in thin holiday trade this week, as a bitter standoff dragged on between Ankara and Washington over the fate of an American pastor being tried in Turkey.

The lira firmed to 6.0550 against the US currency from a close of 6.0950, having weakened 1 per cent on Thursday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman accused the United States of waging "economic war".

Trading volumes were thin and probably largely offshore as Turkish markets have been closed since Monday for the Muslim festival of Eid Al Adha. They will reopen on Monday. The lira closed at 6.01 last week.

"We do expect pressures to resume, most likely next week. This is the quiet before the storm," said Jakob Christensen, head of EM research at Danske Bank.

"We see the measures put in place ahead of the holiday last week as more like temporary relief measures rather than dealing with the symptoms of the crisis," he said.

Despite central bank and banking watchdog steps to underpin the lira, it has weakened 37 per cent against the dollar this year. The crisis is rooted in investor concern over Erdogan's influence on monetary policy and fuelled by the deepening row with the United States.

"We really need some more substantial measures from Turkey before we call the crisis as over," Christensen said. 

In a conference call last week, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak assured investors that Turkey would emerge stronger from the crisis, insisting its banks were healthy but being ready to provide support to the sector if needed.

Policy response 

One focus of interest for investors will be Turkey's medium-term programme for the economy, which Albayrak said he would announce in the first half of September.

Also looming is a central bank policy-setting meeting on September 13. When it last met in July, the bank left rates on hold, contrary to expectations, in its first policy decision since Erdogan was reelected with new executive powers.

Erdogan wants lower borrowing costs to boost growth and investors worry that his influence over monetary policy is weakening the bank's ability to fight inflation, which neared 16 per cent in July, its highest in more than 14 years.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump ruled out concessions to Ankara in return for the release of pastor Andrew Brunson, who is being tried in Turkey on terrorism charges. Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton said Ankara had made a "big mistake" by not freeing Brunson.

Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin responded by saying Washington must respect the legal process concerning the pastor and that Bolton's remarks showed the United States was targeting Turkey's economy.

Bolton had said he was sceptical about $15 billion of investment support from Qatar, saying it was "utterly insufficient to have an impact on Turkey's economy".

NEW YORK — Tesla Motors dropped in early trading on Monday due to rising doubts about Chief Executive Elon Musk's plans to take the electric carmaker private.

Shares fell 2.6 per cent to $297.55 about 20 minutes into trading, continuing the company's downward trajectory after Musk surprised markets on August 7 by announcing on Twitter he wanted to take Tesla private.

Musk said at the time he planned to take Tesla private at $420 a share. But shares have fallen more than 20 per cent since August 7. On Monday, investment bank JPMorgan Chase lowered its target on Tesla shares from $308 to $195.

Since that time, the controversial Musk has come under extensive scrutiny over his Twitter statements related to the proposal, especially a claim that Tesla had "secured" funding for the go-private transaction.

US securities regulators are reportedly probing the veracity of that and other claims. Musk acknowledged exhaustion in an extraordinary interview with The New York Times last week.

On Monday, JPMorgan said Musk's progress in taking the company private "appears much less developed than we had earlier presumed", eliminating the need for a premium based on the transaction.

While going private is "clearly possible", the latest revelations about Tesla show the company has not obtained financing and "any deal is potentially far from even being formally proposed", the JPMorgan note said.

LONDON — The plunge in the price of copper by more than 20 per cent since the beginning of June has worried analysts who see it as a bad signal for the global economy.

The red metal has acquired the sobriquet “Doctor Copper” for its ability to take the temperature of the world economy.

 Why trust Dr Copper? 

“Doctor Copper” is able to tell when the world economy is going to get sick or get better because of the ubiquity of copper in the modern world.

It is used in plumbing, heating, electrical and telecommunications wiring.

“Trains, planes and automobiles are full of copper, so too are homes and appliances,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

So, it is hard to imagine economic growth without copper, and the market price of the metal reflects fluctuations in demand.

Economists at the Bank of England who monitor the global growth to set monetary policy said on their blog that for them it “is crucial to assess what is happening in the world economy in real time or ‘nowcast’ economic activity”.

Copper prices provide such a real time signal.

 How good are his diagnoses? 

Last year’s acceleration of global growth surprised the International Monetary Fund and several central banks.

The Bank of England economists noted that: “Metals prices rose 30 per cent over 2017, reflecting the continued and surprising strength of the global economy”.

It also works the other way.

“The price of copper fell steeply during the global financial crisis,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief global Economist at Capital Economics.

“And if it continues for much longer, the latest leg down will begin to look ominous.”

But copper prices aren’t a foolproof signal as they are also due to supply factors.

“Copper prices are driven not only by physical demand but also by supply shocks, speculation and exchange rate movements,” said Kenningham.

As copper is traded in dollars, when the value of the Chinese yuan or other emerging market currencies fall it becomes more expensive, dampening demand and pulling the price of the metal lower.

What is behind current weakness? 

On Wednesday, shares and raw materials prices tumbled as global trade tensions ratcheted higher and emerging market currencies fell against the dollar.

Three-month copper futures prices, which were over $7,200 per tonne in early June, struck a 13-month low of $5,773 per tonne.

“Copper prices have collapsed as concerns over trade tariffs” increased wrote analysts at ANZ banking group.

Some analysts believe the current lack of appetite for risk assets was presaged by the drop in copper prices.

“Copper is widely considered to be a bellwether for the global economy and so a weak price is cause for concern” said Mould at AJ Bell.

CARACAS — Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro announced on Friday a single exchange rate pegged to his socialist government's petro cryptocurrency, effectively devaluing by 96 per cent in a move economists said would fan hyperinflation in the chaotic country. 

In one of the biggest economic overhauls of Maduro's five-year government, the former bus driver and union leader also said he would hike the minimum wage by over 3,000 per cent, boost the corporate tax rate, and increase highly-subsidized gas prices in coming weeks.

"I want the country to recover and I have the formula. Trust me," Maduro said in a nighttime speech broadcast on state television.

But economists expressed doubts that Venezuela's cash-strapped government, which faces US sanctions and has defaulted on its bondholders, would succeed.

Venezuelans will see their meager salaries further eroded and companies will struggle with major increases to both taxes and the minimum wage, they said. 

"Amid this aggressive devaluation and monetary expansions due to salaries and bonuses, we are expecting a much more aggressive stage of hyperinflation. All the more so in a context where the elimination of excessive money printing is not credible. The worst of all worlds," said Venezuelan Economist Asdrubal Oliveros of consultancy Ecoanalitica.

The International Monetary Fund has predicted that inflation in Venezuela would hit one million per cent this year.

After a decade-long oil bonanza that spawned a consumption boom in the OPEC member, many poor citizens are now reduced to scouring through garbage to find food as monthly salaries amount to a few US dollars a month. 

'Petrolising'

Maduro said he would overhaul Venezuela's disparate exchange rates and peg salaries, pensions and prices to the petro, a cryptocurrency launched by the government earlier this year.

It was not immediately clear how the government intended to carry out the financial changes and the I

information ministry did not respond to a request for details.

Cryptocurrency experts have cast doubt on the petro as a functional financial instrument, citing a lack of clear details on how it operates and US sanctions that make it off limits.

President Donald Trump in March signed an executive order barring any US-based financial transactions involving the petro, with officials warning that the Venezuelan cryptocurrency was a "scam".

Venezuela's government has not provided a clear breakdown of petro investors or how much they have collected from the cryptocurrency's sale.

Maduro argues that he is the victim of a Washington-led "economic war" designed to sabotage his administration through sanctions and price-gouging. He has vowed that the petro will abolish the "tyranny" of the dollar and lead to an economic rebirth in Venezuela, home to the world's biggest crude reserves.

Economists, however, point to Venezuela's strict currency controls, botched nationalizations and excessive money creation as the root causes of its economic crisis.

Maduro said on Friday that one petro would equal $60 and have the equivalent of 360 million bolivars. That implies a new exchange rate of 6 million bolivars per dollar, broadly on par with widely used black market exchange rates, entailing a 96 per cent devaluation compared with the current official DICOM rate of 248,832 bolivars per dollar.

"They've dollarised our prices. I am petrolising salaries and petrolising prices," Maduro said. "We are going to convert the petro into the reference that pegs the entire economy's movements".

Maduro added that the minimum wage would amount to "half a petro," baffling some Venezuelans and sparking the Twitter hashtag #BlackFriday. 

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's de facto central bank on Thursday said it had bought up more than $2 billion worth of local currency to maintain a long-held peg to the US dollar.

The intervention — which began on Wednesday and was the latest in a series of moves to support the currency this year — comes as the US dollar rockets on the back of turmoil in emerging markets and the ongoing Turkish lira crisis. 

The buyout means that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will have just $12 billion in its reserves by the end of the week, the lowest level in a decade, Bloomberg News said.

Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA said the outflow of funds is a "normal and inevitable process for Hong Kong dollar interest rate normalisation".

On Thursday, the Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$7.8495 against the US dollar, very close to the edge of its permitted range of HK$7.75-7.85.

Under the city's Linked Exchange Rate System, the HKMA is required to buy the local currency at HK$7.85 to US$1 to ensure exchange rate stability.

The southern Chinese financial hub has maintained a decades old peg with the US dollar, which keeps Hong Kong at the mercy of Fed policymakers.

The city's dollar was linked to the greenback in 1983 in a bid to prevent a sell-off as it wobbled over fears about China's reunification talks with Britain.

The HKMA said it stands ready to issue $1 trillion "Exchange Fund Bills" to release liquidity in order to deal with possible sharp outflow from Hong Kong dollar.

The HKMA last intervened to support the currency in May.

ISTANBUL — Turkey doubled tariffs on some US imports including cars, alcohol and tobacco on Wednesday in retaliation for US moves, but the lira rallied a further 6 per cent after a fresh move by banking authorities to underpin the currency.

Ankara acted amid increased tension between the two NATO allies over Turkey's detention of a pastor and other diplomatic issues, which have helped to send the lira tumbling to record lows against the dollar. 

The rebound in the Turkish currency to stronger than 6.0 against the dollar was driven by a banking watchdog's step to limit swap transactions and by hopes of improved relations with the European Union.

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump said he had authorised higher tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from Turkey.

A decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, doubled Turkish tariffs on passenger cars to 120 per cent, on alcoholic drinks to 140 per cent and on leaf tobacco to 60 per cent. Tariffs were also doubled on goods such as cosmetics, rice and coal.

"The import duties were increased on some products, under the principle of reciprocity, in response to the US administration's deliberate attacks on our economy," Vice President Fuat Oktay wrote on Twitter.

The United States was the fourth largest source of imports to Turkey last year, accounting for $12 billion of imports, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics. Turkey's exports to the United States last year amounted to $8.7 billion, making it Turkey's fifth-largest export market.

The row with Washington has helped to drive the lira to record lows, with the currency losing more than 40 per cent of its value against the dollar this year, prompting central bank liquidity moves to support it.

The lira firmed as far as 5.75 against the dollar on Wednesday and stood at 5.9350 at 07:45 GMT in a move initially triggered by a Turkish court decision to release two Greek soldiers facing espionage charges.

A treasury desk trader at one bank said this "development showed relations with the EU could recover while tense relations continue with the USA".

It was also helped by a step from the banking watchdog BDDK, cutting the limit for Turkish banks' forex swap, spot and forward transactions with foreign banks to 25 per cent of a bank's equity. 

The lira had already rebounded about 8 per cent on Tuesday on news of a planned conference call on Thursday in which the finance minister will seek to reassure international investors.

Markets have been concerned by Erdogan's influence over the economy and his resistance to interest rate increases to tackle double-digit inflation.

Erdogan has said Turkey is the target of an economic war, and has made repeated calls for Turks to sell their dollars and euros to shore up the currency. On Tuesday, he said Turkey would boycott US electronic products.

LONDON — Clouds are gathering over the outlook for the oil market, as trade tensions and rising crude supply threaten to swamp demand growth, but some of the world's most prominent energy investors are convinced the price will return to record highs.

The escalating trade war between the United States and China threatens global growth. The physical markets are already showing signs of strain, as unwanted crude builds on ships and crushes prices for cargoes of oil. 

Aside from that, interest rates around the world are rising and the dollar is strengthening, which means emerging market oil buyers are seeing their import bill growing almost daily.

Both the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency have warned about the risk of trade disputes to global demand growth in their most recent monthly market outlooks. 

Funds have cut their bullish bets on Brent and US crude futures and options to their lowest in almost a year. 

Despite all this, prominent hedge funds such as Andurand Capital and Westbeck Capital are betting oil could skyrocket to $150 a barrel from around $75 now.

The main driver is expected to be upcoming US sanctions on Iran's energy sector, which kick in in November. 

"Our view is that by November 4, we will have lost between 1.3 and 1.4 million barrels [of output] a day. It is a very big number. That's based on the view that the US will allow a few temporary exception waivers.... Ultimately, we could see losses from Iran exceed 2 million barrels a day," Jean-Louis Le Mee, chief executive officer of London-based Westbeck, said. 

US President Donald Trump in May walked away from a 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran that he said was one-sided in Iran's favour. 

Trump has also blamed OPEC for the 45-per cent rise in oil prices over the last 12 months and, in June, exchanged sharp words with Iran on the subject. 

Pierre Andurand, who runs the $1.2-billion Andurand Commodities Fund and predicted the rise and subsequent crash in the oil price in 2008, responded on Twitter by pointing out OPEC's spare capacity was at its lowest ever. "There is going to be a real issue," he wrote, predicting prices above $150 per barrel within two years.

"We don't sense a great deal of engagement yet from generalist investors. A few of them are starting to look at it now," Will Smith, Westbeck chief investment officer said.

"This is going to catch everybody by surprise. Some of the specialists are bullish — including Pierre [Andurand], ourselves and Energy Aspects," he said. 

Aside from the risk to Iranian supply, Venezuela's crude production, which has already collapsed as a result of economic crisis, could fall below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, compared with 2 million bpd in mid-2017, Smith said.

Andurand Capital declined to comment.

Taking a contrarian view can be costly. Even Andurand took a hit in 2017 when he expected the oil price to rally sharply and, instead, it wallowed around the $50 mark. 

He was not alone. A number of long-time oil investors such as US commodity fund manager Andy Hall were reportedly so badly burned they shut up shop and bowed out.

Westbeck's Energy Opportunity Fund is up 4.1 per cent in the year to July 13, showed an investor presentation shared with Reuters. Andurand's commodities fund is up 12 per cent in the first six months of 2018, according to data compiled by HSBC.

The oil options market shows that, for contracts from October 2018 to December 2020, traders and investors are holding more contracts to buy crude futures — or calls — at $100 a barrel than any other.

However, in line with Westbeck's view that $150 oil is not one that is widely shared in the investment community, that position has barely changed in the last month, having dropped by a mere 1,500 lots to just over 107,000 lots, equivalent to 100 million barrels of oil. 

By contrast, in the last month, the largest change in holdings, or open interest, has materialised in contracts to sell oil — or puts — at $60 to $65 a barrel between October 2018 and December 2020. This position has grown by nearly 45,000 lots to 140,000 lots, or 140 million barrels of oil. 

A month ago, the amount of open interest in calls maturing in this time period outnumbered that of puts by nearly three to one. This ratio is now down to two to one.

"If we are right about oil going from $75 to $150 over the next 12 to 18 months, out-of-the-money oil options, further down the curve... look very exciting. The pay back there is just fantastic if we are right," Westbeck's Smith said.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — Chinese officials have been mostly measured and moderate in their response to US President Donald Trump's ratcheting up of a trade war with Beijing in recent weeks through his announcement of a series of punitive tariffs. They have generally avoided adding to tensions, allowing the Communist Party's official media to make the most bellicose comments.

But the mood on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai is a little less accepting. Reuters talked to a cross section of 50 people, mainly from the two cities; about how concerned they are about the trade war, what they think Beijing's response would be, and whether they think Chinese people should boycott American products in retaliation.

The interviews showed there is no palpable sense of crisis or panic yet. There is division and confusion over how China should respond to Trump, with some arguing that Beijing should strike back at American interests but others saying they did not know what could be done. 

But perhaps most worrying for American businesses selling in China, a significant minority of the people interviewed — 14, or 28 per cent — want to stop buying American products now, and some say they are already boycotting anything made in the US Others said they would continue to buy American but that could change in the future.

If that was representative of the whole of China — and words were turned into action — it might start to put a dent in sales of Apple's iPhones, Disney's movies, Starbucks' drinks and General Motors' cars, among other American products — and that's without any boycott being organised by the government or activists.

A decade after China basked in the patriotic glory of an inspirational opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, nationalist sentiment is rarely far below the surface.

The straw poll's sample is very small and clearly not scientific. The interviews were also conducted in a country where people are often guarded and may well not let foreign media know their real views. Any individual's comments deemed inappropriate — criticism of Xi would fall into this category — could lead to trouble with the authorities. 

But the views expressed in the 50 interviews are more than the basis for idle curiosity.

Here are the results of the straw poll:

Asked whether they were worried about the trade war, only 11 of the 50 (22 per cent) said they were, and 39 (or 78 per cent) said they weren't concerned.

Asked what Beijing should do in response to Trump's punitive tariffs, 19 (or 38 per cent) said that it should strike back hard. The rest came up with various responses, including a refocus on development of the domestic economy building other export markets, while 8 (or 16 per cent) said they had no idea what the government should do.

Asked whether they would stop buying US products, 14 said they would, 31 said they would not (some indicated their views could change if the trade war intensifies), and five did not have a view.

Here are some of the comments from those interviewed:

"Of course I'm concerned. It's a clash between the largest and second-largest economy," said Shanghai stockbroker Cai Qing, 40. "None of the relevant parties were fully prepared for the trade war. Policies were rushed, including US policies," he added. 

"To put it bluntly, Americans have always been so arrogant — they make everyone their manufacturer so they can reap the economic fruit," said Qu Xinjun, who works in the steel industry in Shanghai. "Trump is waging a psychological war with China. He was trying to intimidate China. From a psychological standpoint, we should not worry about the trade war, but rather focus on domestic development," he said. "We should trust our country and the leadership and trust that we can win the war." 

"China has to hit back, which could show its great power status. China has to win this match," said Beijing interior decorator Zhang Shiyou, 56.

China has other markets it can look to, and President Xi Jinping's landmark proposal to build a new Silk Road, called the Belt and Road initiative, he said. 

"We Chinese should not buy Apple phones. Like the saying 'Buy the nation's products, love China', buying domestic products will boost our own industries." 

"A lot of American goods are actually made in China," said Wei Shaochuan, 26, the founder of a tech start-up in China's central Henan province, that was interviewed on WeChat.

"But if, after a period of time, the trade war really incites a sense of hatred against the United States, then I will not watch American movies, not listen to American music, not recommend Disney to friends, and start writing social media posts saying that Americans are not good, in order to counter American cultural products," he said.

"I'm a strong supporter of Chinese products. I'm a firm opponent of any American product, especially after reading the news," said Zhao Guoxin, 61, a store owner in Beijing. "The other day I went to this American shop and I told them I won't buy one single thing, and I made them very awkward…," he said.

"To be honest, importing from the US isn't our sole route," said Wang Yangqing, a Beijing nurse who said she was in her 20s. "We could also import from European countries. For girls, we use some American skin care products. If tariffs keep rising, I may shift to products from other places such as Japan or Korea."

"China should strike back properly," said Xu Dong, 25, a student in Beijing. "But I won't stop buying their products. Some enterprises like Apple in fact bring in tax revenues and employment. It's a brand that is doing good to China," he said,

"For me, it [the trade war] is great!" said Zhu Tao, 34, a ship catering manager in Beijing. "That's because I receive my salary in US dollars and since the US-China trade war started the US dollar has kept increasing in value compared to the yuan. So I think it has really helped me. It's great!"