TechFlow News, February 23: According to CNBC, Asian-Pacific stock markets rose broadly on Monday following news that former U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to raise global tariffs from 10% to 15%. South Korea’s KOSPI index rose for the third consecutive trading day, gaining 1.7% to a record high; heavyweight stocks SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rose over 3% and 2%, respectively. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index edged up 0.17%. Meanwhile, Chinese and Japanese markets were closed for holidays.
This tariff hike comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Trump’s broad-based tariff measures enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. Claudio Galimberti, Chief Economist at Rystad Energy, noted that while the Supreme Court’s ruling rendered many existing tariffs invalid and weakened the ability to impose tariffs targeting specific countries, it did not dismantle the broader tariff framework. In fact, without IEEPA exemptions, average tariff rates could even exceed those under the previously invalidated plan if the statutory tariff ceiling is reached.
Last Friday, buoyed by the Supreme Court’s ruling, U.S. equities rallied across the board: the S&P 500 rose 0.69%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 230.81 points, or 0.47%.
