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Fitch Ratings has hinted that it will further lower its 2020 economic growth forecast for Korea citing escalating trade confrontations between the United States and China.
In its report released Monday, the global credit ratings agency expects Korea will see its GDP growth rate go down by 0.24 percentage points in 2020, if the trade war between the United States and China escalates.
In June, the agency forecast the Korean economy will show a 2 percent growth rate in 2019 and a 2.6 percent growth rate in 2020.
According to the report, Korea will suffer second-most from the trade feud, following Mexico which may face a 0.25 percentage point drop in its growth forecast for 2020.
"New U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports represent an escalation of U.S. trade protectionism beyond our baseline forecasts," Fitch said in the report. "As part of a broader trend that includes increased tariffs and greater trade policy uncertainty, the move highlights a significant threat to global growth."
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose a 10 percent tariff on the remaining $300 billion of imports from China, beginning Sept. 1. The U.S. levied a 25 percent tariff on $200 billion out of around $540 billion of imports in May.
Fitch analyzed the effects of the additional 10 percent tariffs and China's possible retaliation which is highly expected to come after the Trump's imposition of the additional tariffs.
According to the scenario analysis, its forecast for the global economic output in 2020 may fall to 2.62 percent from 2.74 percent.
On Monday, the U.S. labeled China as a currency manipulator, after China's currency dropped below 7 yuan per dollar.





































