hong kong<u+2014>republican candidate donald trump <u+2019>s stunning election victory has left some of asia<u+2019>s biggest companies that rely on business with the u.s. grappling with uncertainty, amid hopes the president-elect will tone down his threats to impose tariffs on imports and rework global trade treaties. in japan, companies from sony corp. to toyota motor corp. saw their share prices hammered on wednesday as the prospect of mr. trump<u+2019>s election victory pushed the japanese yen higher against the dollar, hurting some of the region<u+2019>s biggest exporters. mr. trump<u+2019>s victory has underlined the uncertainty surrounding his policy positions. boardrooms globally have been unsettled by his threats to renegotiate trade deals he views as damaging to u.s. jobs, and levy tariffs as high as 45% on imports from china, mexico and elsewhere. <u+201c>we hope president trump is more nuanced than candidate trump,<u+201d> said jake parker, vice president of china operations of the u.s.-china business council. investors dumped shares of japanese and south korean auto makers as mr. trump<u+2019>s victory became clear. toyota motor corp., honda motor co. and nissan motor co. lean heavily on manufacturing u.s.-bound exports from mexico, particularly to meet rising demand from american car buyers for trucks and sport-utility vehicles. to be sure, analysts question whether mr. trump can ultimately unwind complex, global deals or impose such drastic tariffs. but auto makers in particular would be hit if mr. trump follows through with his threat to slap a 35% tariff on cars imported from mexico. toyota recently announced plans to expand capacity at its factory in baja california, mexico, that produces its tacoma midsize truck, while honda plans to ramp up exports of the popular hr-v crossover from there to meet u.s. demand. nissan builds many of its small cars in mexico, like the sentra and versa, and around half of its production there was exported to the u.s. last fiscal year, ended march 31, a quarter of nissan vehicles sold in the u.s. were made in mexico. toyota motor corp lost 6.5%, honda motor slumped 7.8% and nissan tumbled 6% in tokyo on wednesday. the companies declined to comment. hyundai motor co. and its affiliate kia motors corp. are among the south korean companies that stand to lose if mr. trump follows the protectionist path he threatened during his campaign, said analysts. both companies saw their shares fall by more than 3% in seoul wednesday. a hyundai-kia group spokesman declined to comment. <u+201c>under mr. trump<u+2019>s leadership, the u.s. government could embark on a renegotiation of free trade deals, including the u.s.-korea fta. this is bad news for global auto makers, including hyundai and kia, which depend on u.s. for growth,<u+201d> said ktb investment & securities analyst moon yong-kwon. tariffs on chinese imports would increase prices consumers pay for electronic goods across the board, regardless of brand, say analysts. nearly all the world<u+2019>s major electronics companies<u+2014>including apple inc., dell inc., cisco systems inc. and international business machines corp. <u+2014>rely heavily on china for manufacturing. tariffs from the u.s. would likely accelerate china<u+2019>s push to build a parallel technology ecosystem that doesn<u+2019>t rely on the u.s., which would hurt u.s. technology vendors seeking access to the vast market. <u+201c>rather than build protectionist walls, we should boost american exports by reducing [the] trade and market access barriers that china uses to keep out american manufactured goods, services and agricultural products,<u+201d> said mr. parker. issues such as immigration and outsourcing, key pillars of india-u. s. ties, were themes of mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign. large numbers of indians work in the u.s., including many it professionals who use a visa program that facilitates the hiring of skilled foreign workers, and analysts said companies should be concerned about such programs now being curtailed. a spokeswoman for india<u+2019>s largest software exporter by revenue, tata consultancy services ltd. , declined to comment wednesday on what a trump presidency would mean for the company. one of the day<u+2019>s few winners, shares in gold companies rocketed up as investors piled their money into safe-haven assets in a flight from risky investments. in australia, newcrest mining ltd. closed up 9.8% and resolute mining ltd. ended 7.8% higher as spot gold prices rose. <u+2014>sean mclain in tokyo, eva dou in beijing, in-soo nam in seoul and newley purnell in new delhi contributed to this article.
trump win leaves asian firms facing uncertainty over u.s. market - wsj
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