· The safe-haven yen edged higher and the Chinese yuan and Australian dollar dipped early on Monday after the latest escalation in the trade war between the United States and China.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are likely to meet during a G20 summit in Japan at the end of June and discuss trade, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Sunday.
The dollar was 0.3 percent lower at 109.650 yen, near a three-month low of 109.470 brushed late last week.
The Chinese yuan weakened about 0.3 percent to 6.866 per dollar in offshore trade, its lowest in four months.
The euro was little changed at $1.1234.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies inched down 0.05 percent to 97.283.
· Last year the US imposed a 10% tariff on $200bn worth of Chinese products - including fish, handbags, clothing and footwear.
The firms paying the additional tariff can choose to absorb it themselves, pass it on to consumers in the form of higher prices, or ask their suppliers to reduce their prices.
Last week the US said it was increasing tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200bn (£153.7bn) of goods from China. President Trump said Beijing "broke the deal" by backtracking on earlier commitments to change its policies.
Mr Trump said a process had begun to place the full 25% tariff on a further $325bn of Chinese goods, causing concern over the impact the ongoing tit-for-tat trade spat between the world's two largest economies might have on global growth.
China said it deeply regretted the US action and would take "necessary counter-measures".
· The United States and China appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday as Washington demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and Beijing said it would not swallow any “bitter fruit” that harmed its interests.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told the “Fox News Sunday” program that China needs to agree to “very strong” enforcement provisions for an eventual deal and said the sticking point was Beijing’s reluctance to put into law changes that had been agreed upon. Kudlow said the U.S. tariffs would remain in place while negotiations continue.
· President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to meet at the June G-20 summit in Japan, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow said in a Fox News interview on Sunday.
Kudlow said the chances of such as meeting “were pretty good,” but he said there are “no concrete, definite plans” for when U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet again.
· China’s door to talks with the United States about their trade dispute is always open, but China will not yield on important issues of principle, state media said on Sunday.
· An Israeli cabinet minister warned on Sunday of possible direct or proxy Iranian attacks on Israel should the stand-off between Tehran and Washington escalate.
The United States has increased economic and military pressure on Iran, with President Donald Trump on Thursday urging its leaders to talk to him about giving up their nuclear program and saying he could not rule out an armed confrontation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which supports Trump’s hard tack against its arch-foe, has largely been reticent about the spiraling tensions.
· Oil prices were little changed on Friday as tightened global supplies and expectations of rising U.S. refining demand offset trade tensions stoked by a U.S. move to hike tariffs on Chinese goods.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 4 cents lower at $61.66, having earlier hit $62.49. WTI ended the week down about half a percent.
Brent crude oil was up 23 cents at $70.62 a barrel, having touched a peak of $71.23. Brent ended the week slightly lower.
Futures chalked up the weekly losses during volatile week with investors worried over the possibility of a protracted and bitter U.S.-China trade war, despite last-minute efforts to salvage a deal.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, BBC
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