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Asian dealers uneasy over protectionist pledges during campaign
Asian businesspeople and analysts expressed hope on Wednesday that US President-elect Barack Obama can tackle the financial crisis but anxiety over whether Washington will embrace more protectionist trade measures.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:32 November 5, 2008
Beijing: Asian businesspeople and analysts expressed hope on Wednesday that US President-elect Barack Obama can tackle the financial crisis but anxiety over whether Washington will embrace more protectionist trade measures.
"The financial crisis has a great impact on the world. If Obama can reverse the tide, then certainly it's good," said Liao Yi, deputy general manager of CHiNT Electronics Group, one of China's biggest producers of power-transmission equipment.
Japanese investors are hopeful that Democrat Obama's win, as well as his party's bigger majorities in the US Congress, will help speed along further measures to lift the US out of its economic woes, said Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities in Tokyo.
"There are expectations now for prompt economic stimulus measures," he said.
Most Asian stock markets rose yesterday, partly on relief that the next US leader was chosen, lifting months of uncertainty. Japan's Nikkei index jumped 4.5 per cent to 9,521.24 and Hong Kong's benchmark rose 3.2 per cent to 14,840.16.
Still, Kazuo Mizuno, chief economist at Mitsu-bishi UFJ Securities Co. in Tokyo, cautioned that a new president could not deliver a quick fix for US economic problems, which are dragging on global growth. He said the United States will likely need foreign financing - from Japan, China and the Middle East - to pay for bailouts of financial firms saddled with bad debts and other measures.
Many expressed unease about Obama's pledges to vigorously enforce trade laws and criticism of a pending trade pact with South Korea that he says fails to address an imbalance in auto shipments.
The Democrats, traditionally viewed as more protectionist on trade than Republicans, now control both the presidency and Congress.
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